More than 100 injured in Jerusalem, clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police

More than 100 injured in clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said at least 105 people had been injured, about 20 of them in hospitals, and police said they had counted 20 wounded in its ranks and arrested 44 people during these clashes, the most violent that have erupted in recent years in the city.

According to AMPE, the clashes broke out after the Israeli police mobilized to guard a march organized by the far-right Jewish movement Lahava, an organization openly hostile to the Palestinians, at the entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem.

Security forces had deployed hundreds of police and cavalry near the Damascus Gate and in neighboring areas, in order, according to them, to protect “freedom of expression” and “the right to assemble”.

But this Lahava demonstration – some members of which chanted slogans such as “Death to the Arabs”, according to eyewitnesses – was considered a provocation and provoked clashes with Palestinians who were returning from the evening prayer of Ramadan in the Square of the Mosques.

Palestinian youths staged a counter-demonstration to express their opposition to the march, and incidents broke out at the entrance to the Old City, on the east side of Jerusalem annexed by Israel, which lasted until nightfall.

Eyewitnesses posted photos of the violent incidents on social media.

Riots broke out in Jerusalem on Wednesday. Videos posted on social media and broadcast by local media show Arabs working in downtown shops and journalists receiving violent attacks by young Jews shouting “Death to the Arabs.”

Seventy Arabs and Jews were arrested on Wednesday and Thursday, 64 of whom remain in custody, according to Israeli police.