New clashes pitted Palestinian worshipers against Israeli police on Monday (May 10) in the precincts of the Mosques Esplanade in East Jerusalem. Hundreds of Palestinians hurled projectiles at Israeli forces who used stun grenades, rubber bullets and tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd.
“There are hundreds of injured in the clashes” at the esplanade, of which about fifty had to be transferred to hospitals, the Red Crescent announced on Monday morning. The wounded were evacuated in ambulances dispatched to the scene and parked at the exit of the esplanade, Islam’s third holiest site.
“Jerusalem Day”
The resumption of clashes coincides with the celebration according to the Hebrew calendar of the Day of Jerusalem, which marks the conquest of the eastern part of the city by Israel in 1967.
On Friday evening, more than 200 people were injured in clashes between police and Palestinians on the Mosque Esplanade, where tens of thousands of Palestinian worshipers were gathered for the last Friday prayer before the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Saturday and Sunday calm returned to the plaza, but clashes continued between Palestinians and Israeli police in other areas of East Jerusalem. Around 100 people were injured in the clashes on Saturday, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. In this context, the Middle East Quartet (United Nations, European Union, Russia, United States) called on the Israeli security forces to exercise restraint.
On Sunday, Israeli justice also announced the postponement of a much-awaited hearing at the Supreme Court, scheduled for Monday. It was to pronounce on the fate of Palestinian families threatened with eviction by Israeli settlers in East Jerusalem, a matter at the heart of protests in recent days. Since 2008, ten families have already had to leave. Three others are waiting for a deportation date to be served on them in August. In all, 70 families are at risk.
