New clashes in Jerusalem, protests in the occupied West Bank and rocket fire from the Gaza Strip: tension was mounting between Palestinians and Israeli forces on Saturday in the wake of the biggest clashes in years in the Holy City.
Skirmishes broke out on Friday evening on the outskirts of the Old City of Jerusalem the day after a night of intersecting protests involving a group of far-right Jews chanting "
Death to the Arabs
", Palestinians and the police and having injured more than 120 people.
Read also: In Jerusalem, more than 120 injured during a night of violence
Police and young Palestinians were playing cat and mouse near the Damascus Gate, after the last Friday prayer that gathered tens of thousands of worshipers at the Esplanade des Mosques, Islam's third holiest site, in this period of the Muslim month of Ramadan.
Young Palestinians threw water bottles and stones at the police, deployed en masse, who used stun grenades in an attempt to disperse the crowd, and also led to a few arrests, including a muscular one.
Other incidents also took place in various Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.
Hundreds of Palestinians gathered at the Qalandiya crossing point, connecting Israel and the West Bank, on Friday evening, where various objects were set on fire.
Palestinians threw stones and molotov cocktails at Rachel's Tomb, a Jewish holy site in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, police said, while a protest also took place in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority.
Rocket fire
Later that night, at least 15 rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian enclave geographically separated from the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, into Israel, according to the IDF.
Some rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile shield and others fell in vacant lots.
Read also: Three rockets fired from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel
In retaliation, tanks, combat jets and military helicopters targeted, according to the army, positions of Hamas, an armed Islamist movement which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, and had agreed in recent years to a truce with the Hebrew state after three wars between the two camps (2008, 2012, 2014).
Following Thursday's clashes near the Old City, the most violent in recent years in the Holy City, the armed wing of Hamas has extended its support to Palestinians in East Jerusalem as a warning to Israel.
“
We say to the young people and our people in Jerusalem: we have heard the echoes of your blessed cries and your heroic clashes.
Know that behind you stands a strong resistance and ready (to do battle)
”, warned in a statement the armed wing of Hamas.
And to add: "
The spark that you ignite today will be the fuse of the explosion to come in front of the enemy
".
A regrouping of Palestinian factions, including Hamas but also the Islamic Jihad, the second armed Islamist group in the Gaza Strip, indicated in a statement released on the night of Friday to Saturday that they "can
not remain silent
" following the violence. in Jerusalem.
The Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah - close to Iran like Hamas and Islamic Jihad - has shown its solidarity with the Palestinians, “
strongly”
condemning
the actions of the “occupation police
” and “
settler gangs
”.
And Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced the “
incitement to hatred
” of Israeli far-right groups and urged the international community to “
protect
” Palestinians in East Jerusalem.
Calls for calm
"
Deeply concerned
" by this violence, the United States called for "
firmly rejecting
" the "
speeches of extremist demonstrators chanting violent hate slogans
".
"
We call for calm and unity, and urge the authorities to ensure the safety and rights of all in Jerusalem,
" tweeted US diplomacy spokesman Ned Price.
The UN special envoy for the Middle East Tor Wennesland had denounced Thursday clashes for several days involving the Israeli police, Israeli civilians and Palestinians, and called for a "
de-escalation
".
Neighboring Jordan, which administers the Muslim holy sites in the Old City, condemned "
provocations by extremist Jewish groups
", calling on Israel to "
stop (...) the harassment
" of Palestinians in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem mayor Moshe Lion told Israeli channel Kan to speak with Palestinian leaders in East Jerusalem in the hope of ending “
this unnecessary violence
” which is occurring a month before the first Palestinian legislative elections in fifteen years and as discussions are taking place in Israel over the possible support of an Arab party for a government Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to form with radical right-wing parties.
