Hundreds of Palestinians clashed with Israeli police in the area with Israeli police through the Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem on Sunday night, leading to three arrests.
Israeli police deployed water cannons, stun grenades and mounted officers blowing over the area in an attempt to disperse the crowd. Three Palestinians were arrested, and Israeli police accused them of being attacking officers at the scene.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, four Palestinians were wounded during the clashes and received medical treatment.
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Police on Sunday night claimed that Palestinians had thrown stones at officials. A reporter at the scene for the Israeli daily Haaretz disputed the report and testified that no stones were thrown and that ‘most protesters remained non-violent. ‘
Night clashes between Palestinians and police have erupted near the Damascus Gate since the start of the Ramadan holiday last Tuesday. According to Israeli police, Palestinians threw stones at buses in East Jerusalem and fired fireworks at police. At least one officer was slightly injured in the clashes.
Police officers stood guard during clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police outside Damascus Gate in Jerusalem on April 18, 2021. Clashes broke out after Israeli police placed barriers that prevented people from sitting on the stairs in the plaza outside the gate. Photo by Yonatan Sindel / Flash90
A handful of Palestinians in East Jerusalem have distributed videos showing them hitting apparently uninvolved ultra-Orthodox and religious Jewish passers-by. The clips uploaded to the social network Tiktok have provoked widespread condemnation by Jewish and Arab MKs.
The Islamic holy month, which regularly hosts mass meetings, has often been a hotbed of violence between young Palestinians and Israeli security forces.
The clashes appear to have been sparked by a Jerusalem police decision to prevent Palestinians from sitting on the steps of the Damascus Gate. In an unofficial tradition in Jerusalem, thousands of Palestinians often sit in the area after night prayers during Ramadan.
Israeli police deploy water cannons and riot police during clashes with Palestinians near Damascus Gate on Sunday, April 18, 2021 (Screenshot: Twitter)
This year, however, police erected blocks in the area to funnel worshipers from the area and forbade Palestinians to sit on the stairs at night.
In a telephone conversation with The Times of Israel, a police spokesman in Jerusalem argued that the blockade of the area was actually intended as a riot control.
“There are always riots. Now they just use the obstacles as an excuse. So if there were no obstacles, what would we have? said the spokesman.
On Sunday night, dozens of Israeli riot police ran down the highway past Damascus Gate, flanked by mounted police and water cannons.
Horsemen, from Katzit and gas grenades to disperse the crowd. But without much of the pre-identification mess. pic.twitter.com/k1ebSQa9Kd
Nir Hasson Nir Hasson (@nirhasson) 18 April 2021
Some initial reports in Palestinian media said that the young Palestinians clashing with the police are worshipers returning from the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Both officials in the Waqf, which runs the Islamic holy site, and the Jerusalem police spokesman rejected the claim.
Police officers responded forcefully to the crowd. In one video that is widely circulated on social media, an officer can be seen brutally hitting a restrained Palestinian man in the head, apparently without being provoked.
Police violence: A few days ago, a policeman beat a Palestinian detainee in East Jerusalem. Police forbid gatherings in Bab al-‘Amud as is customary during Ramadan. pic.twitter.com/OIS4jKe5Mm
– Ahmad Tibi (@Ahmad_tibi) 18 April 2021
The Department of Internal Investigations of the Ministry of Justice – the body charged with overseeing the misconduct of the police – announced on Sunday that it would open an investigation into the incident.
On Sunday around midnight, members Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, religious Zionists, arrived at the Damascus Gate to speak to police.
“This arrogance, this boldness, cannot simply be ignored. We are in a sovereign Jewish state, ‘Smotrich told reporters at the scene.
In a video of the scene, Jewish activists can be seen dancing in a circle on the scene and singing a song that takes revenge against Palestinians.
Police officers stood guard during clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police outside Damascus Gate in Jerusalem on April 18, 2021. Clashes broke out after Israeli police placed barriers that prevented people from sitting on the stairs in the plaza outside the gate. Photo by Yonatan Sindel / Flash90
A right-wing activist at the scene challenged Arab Israeli MP Ahmad Tibi on Friday to condemn the apparent attacks on ultra-Orthodox bystanders.
Tibi did so, adding that violence against Palestinians in East Jerusalem should also be condemned. “We must uproot all nationalist violence,” he said.
