Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Via AP news wire

Clashes at Jerusalem flashpoint, dozens hurt, detained

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Israeli police fired stun grenades, rubber bullets and wastewater canons Monday to disperse Palestinian stone-throwers at a gate to Jerusalem’s Old City, a frequent flashpoint from which tensions rapidly escalated in the past.

Palestinian medics said 33 Palestinians were injured, including an 11-year-old girl hit in the face by a stun grenade. Police detained 20 Palestinians and said four police officers were also hurt.

The confrontation erupted at the Damascus Gate as large crowds streamed through the arched passage toward the Old City’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam’s third holiest shrine. Worshippers marked what Muslim faithful believe is Prophet Mohammad’s ascension to heaven.

It was not immediately clear what sparked Monday’s clashes. The area around the Damascus Gate has been a scene of confrontations in the past, including during last year’s holy month of Ramadan when devout Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.

At the time, police prevented Palestinians from gathering at Damascus Gate after breaking their daily fast, as was customary. Nightly clashes erupted, with tensions rapidly spreading and triggering a two-week war between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers. Ramadan, a time of heightened religious fervor, is to start this year at the beginning of April.

Muslim religious officers administering the Al-Aqsa Mosque area estimated that about 90,000 worshippers attended Monday’s holiday. The raised platform is revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, site of their biblical temple. The compound’s Western Wall is the holiest site where Jews can pray.

The Old City is located in east Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, along with the West Bank. Some 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the two areas. The Palestinians seek both areas as parts of a future independent state.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.