Israeli police clashed with Palestinian protesters at the Temple Mount compound Monday, the latest in a series of confrontations that is pushing the contested city to the brink of eruption.
Despite a calm that set in around noon, the riots continued around 4:30 p.m. as hundreds of teens celebrated Jerusalem Day with the traditional Flag Dance that included a march throughout the city. As a result, the Israel Police cleared the Damascus Gate area, where many of the riots were taking place.
Around 2 p.m., shortly after the clashes subsided on the compound itself when rocks were hurled on a bus carrying yeshiva students on their way to the Tower of David. The bus was damaged, but the passengers suffered only minor wounds due to glass shards. This, as the main prayer service at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, ended without incident and with 5,000 Muslim worshippers taking part.
The heightened tensions have led to speculation that the traditional "flag dance" to celebrate the reunification of Jerusalem in the Six-Day War might be canceled, but the Israel Police later said it would continue as planned despite fears that its route might stir more clashes, but in a last-minute change it ordered that it won't pass through the Damascus Gate in the Muslim Quarter as this might stir more controversy and lead to bloodshed. The event took off around 3:30 p.m. with beefed-up security, as the clashes intensified.
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Palestinian medics said at least 300 Palestinians were hurt in the violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, including at least 80 who were hospitalized. Rioters threw fireworks and rocks at police, who responded with riot control measures, including tear gas, stun grenades, and warning shots.
Police said protesters hurled stones at officers and onto an adjoining roadway near the Western Wall, where thousands of Israeli Jews had gathered to pray.
In a statement, police alleged extremists were behind the violence and said it would "not allow extremists to harm the safety and security of the public."
The latest clashes in the sacred compound came after days of mounting tensions between Palestinians and Israeli authorities in the Old City of Jerusalem, the emotional ground zero of the conflict. Hundreds of Palestinians and about two dozen police officers have been hurt over the past few days.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said at least 80 people injured in the skirmishes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound required hospitalization. One was in serious condition. Amateur video footage posted on social media showed police stun grenades and tear gas inside the mosque during skirmishes between officers and Palestinian protesters.
On Monday morning, officers fired tear gas and stun grenades and protesters hurled stones and other objects at police. Police said protesters threw stones from the mosque compound onto an adjoining roadway near the Western Wall, where thousands of Israeli Jews had gathered to pray. Palestinians said police fired stun grenades into the compound.
Palestinians at the scene reported that dozens of people had been wounded, and that police were attacking journalists.
The IDF's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, issued a warning to the Palestinians: "Israel will not tolerate attacks on its security or law and order, or the violation of stability. It's a shame that violence and terrorist activity hijack the agenda from people's welfare and the economy."
The rioting began after Israel Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai decided, following a round of consultations with the chief of the Jerusalem District Police and other security officials, that Jews will not be permitted to visit the Temple Mount on Monday (Jerusalem Day) due to the spiraling violence in Jerusalem.
Starting early Monday, thousands of police officers and Border Police personnel were patrolling Jerusalem as a whole and the Old City in particular after another night of clashes in east Jerusalem.
Video: Israel Police Spokesperson
The Israel Police announced that freedom of worship would remain in place on the Temple Mount, but that rioting would not be accepted.
Right-wing NGO Im Tirzu denounced the police for the decision to ban Jews from the Temple Mount on the day that marks the reunification of the city, calling it a "capitulation to terrorism and threats by Arab rioters."
"A government that doesn't know how to defend law-abiding citizens, and gives prizes to attackers paves the way for continued violence. It's sad to see how the Israeli government is forgoing sovereignty on the Temple Mount, even on Jerusalem Day."
#Jerusalem: An Israeli driver and a passenger were attacked following a car accident Monday morning near the Old City pic.twitter.com/sGQnlYp913
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) May 10, 2021
Yamina MK Amichai Shikli voiced his outrage over Shabtai's decision, calling it "a capitulation to Palestinian violence and terrorism. This isn't how we win."
MK Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit, was also furious, and said, "Violence and barbarism have won. The heads of the security establishment, whose policy of accepting every attack on Jews, which in the past day have become pogroms, are at fault. But more than they, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Public Security Minister Amir Ohana [are], for allowing the police to fold. Whoever folds when it comes to the Temple Mount, folds when it comes to the Land of Israel as a whole."
On Sunday, Attorney-General Avichai Mendelblit secured a deferment on Sunday of a court hearing on planned evictions of Palestinians in Jerusalem due to the escalating violence of recent weeks.
The Supreme Court had been due on Monday to hear appeals against the planned evictions of several Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
A lower court had found in favor of Jewish settlers' claim to the land on which the Palestinians' homes are located.
But in a last-minute legal move, the appellants asked the court to seek a legal opinion from Mendelblit, opening the way for Monday's session to be postponed and the possibility he could argue against the evictions.
A spokesman for Mendelblit said the court agreed to receive a future submission from the attorney general and that a new session would be scheduled within 30 days.
"I'm very optimistic because of the court's decision," said Nabil al-Kurd, 77, one of the Palestinians facing eviction. "We are sitting here in our country, in our land. We will not give up."
After the iftar meal that breaks the Ramadan daily fast, he and a group of elders sat and watched as young Palestinian protesters sang and chanted slogans at settlers across the road, shouting "Freedom, freedom" and "Palestine is Arab."
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The Israelis did likewise, singing and dancing, with police in riot gear and on horseback keeping them apart. At the settlers' house across the street, Yaakov, 42, said the court postponement was "a disgrace."
"They should have made a stand and shown that anyone who commits violent acts in Israel is immediately punished and is not rewarded for their bad behavior," he said, declining to identify himself further.
Elsewhere on Sunday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday expressed "serious concerns" to his Israeli counterpart about the violent clashes in Jerusalem.
In a phone call with National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, Sullivan "encouraged the Israeli government to pursue appropriate measures to ensure calm during Jerusalem Day commemorations."
Ben-Shabbat informed Sullivan that Israel was handling the events in Jerusalem from a position of "sovereignty, responsibility, and consideration, despite the provocations."
According to an Israeli official, Ben-Shabbat stressed that "International intervention is a prize for the rioters and their handlers, who hoped to have pressure applied to Israel," and told Sullivan that it would be helpful if international attention were to address the sources of the incitement.
Ariel Kahana contributed to this report.
