Riots broke out in the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem on Sunday when an Israeli lawmaker set up an office there.
“
Violent clashes erupted in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem, including throwing objects and clashes
,” Israeli police said in a statement, adding that they had arrested two rioters.
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On Saturday evening, the police arrested "
six suspects
" and dispersed a "
violent and illegal demonstration
" in the same neighborhood, the epicenter of tensions between Palestinians and Israeli settlers, according to a press release.
On Sunday morning, Itamar Ben Gvir, a lawmaker for the far-right '
Religious Zionism
' party, traveled to Sheikh Jarrah to open a '
parliamentary office
' and support Jewish residents in the neighborhood following a suspected arson attack. Friday, from a house where a Jewish family lives.
“
If the terrorists tried to burn a Jewish family alive without the police reacting, I will come to the spot
,” Ben Gvir tweeted on Saturday evening. The Palestinian Authority condemned the opening of this office, calling it a “
threatening provocation of 'ignite the situation
,' according to a statement from the Palestinian Foreign Ministry.
The Islamist movement Hamas for its part warned Israel in a press release "
of the consequences of the repeated attacks on the district of Sheikh Jarrah
", a regular scene of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces.
In May, demonstrations in support of Palestinian families threatened with eviction in Sheikh Jarrah degenerated into clashes with settlers and the Israeli police.
More than 300,000 Palestinians and 210,000 Israelis live today in East Jerusalem, in the part occupied and annexed by Israel since 1967.
