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Jerusalem tensions high as Palestinians head to Al-Aqsa: Live

Thousands of worshippers head to Al-Aqsa, the day after Israeli police stormed the mosque and injured 205 Palestinians.

Palestinian devotees pray on Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Destiny) outside the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP]
Palestinian devotees pray on Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Destiny) outside the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP]
8 May 2021

Tensions are high in occupied East Jerusalem as thousands of Palestinian worshippers head to Al-Aqsa Mosque for the sacred Muslim night of Laylat al-Qadr, the day after Israeli forces stormed the holy site and injured more than 200 Palestinians.

Israel has announced it was beefing up security around the mosque compound ahead of expected protests over the potential eviction of Palestinians from Jerusalem homes on land claimed by Jewish settlers.

Tensions have mounted in the city, the occupied West Bank and Gaza throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, amid growing anger over the eviction orders.

Israeli border guards have over the past few days used skunk water, tear gas, rubber-coated bullets and shock grenades to disperse sit-ins held in support of the families facing eviction.

At least 205 Palestinians and 18 Israeli officers were injured in Friday’s confrontations, which drew international condemnations and calls for calm.

Here are all the latest updates:

Social media users have shared images of Israeli police violently dispersing a sit-in by Palestinian protesters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in East Jerualism.

In one video, a group of policemen is seen destroying tents and pushing people away from the protest site. Another clip showed an officer violently dragging a Palestinian woman along the road.

Arab League meeting unlikely to fix change situation on the ground: Analyst

An emergency meeting by the Arab League is unlikely to produce any change in Israel’s behaviour unless Arab states, most notably those that have normalised relations with Israel decide to take action, said Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst.

“Unless the Arab League does take some serious initiative, including putting some of those states that normalise relations with Israel on notice, unless some of those Arab countries use their leverage whether its diplomatic or other with Israel, I think we will see simply more statements – statements that are perhaps loud in denunciations and condemnation, but very short or low on actionable leverage in terms of forcing Israel, or its allies, not only the United States, to act in order to stop the repressions of Palestinians in Jerusalem.”

Israeli police fire rubber bullets, skunk water to disperse protesters in Jerusalem neighbourhood

Israeli police have used rubber-coated bullets and skunk water to disperse protesters in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, an Al Jazeera correspondent said.

Hundreds of protesters are currently gathered in the vicinity of Othman Ben Afan street, where Palestinians families threatened with evictions live, the correspondent added.

Israeli security forces arrest a protester during a demonstration by Palestinians against the possible eviction of local Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood [Menahem Kahana/AFP]

Turkey’s Erdogan condemns storming of al-Aqsa mosque

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned the raid by Israeli police on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem on Friday.

“We strongly condemn Israel’s heinous attacks against our first qibla #AlAqsaMosque, that are unfortunately being carried out every Ramadan,” Erdogan wrote on Twitter.

Senator Sanders: US must speak out against Jerusalem evictions

US Senator Bernie Sanders in a tweet on Saturday called on the US government to make clear its stance against the eviction of Palestinian families in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.

What can stop Palestinians getting evicted from Sheikh Jarrah?

Although Sheikh Jarrah makes up just a tiny part of occupied East Jerusalem, the area is a major source of tension between Palestinians and Israelis.

A recent order to evict Palestinian families has triggered days of violent protests.

Despite international calls for restraint, the protests are intensifying. So why is the Sheikh Jarrah dispute so contentious?

Click here to learn more.

Arab-Israeli NGO urges end to incursions on Al-Aqsa Mosque

An Arab-Israeli NGO has called on senior Israeli officials to order security forces to halt their “violent incursions” into the Al-Aqsa Mosque and refrain from using excessive force against Palestinian worshippers and medical personnel.

In a letter to Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and Israeli Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai, lawyer Wesam Sharaf of Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel said the incursions endangered the lives of worshippers, and violated their right to freedom of worship.

“There is no need to overstate the constitutional status of the right to worship,” Sharaf wrote.

“The [Israeli police’s] dispersal of prayer sessions using excessive force and disproportionate and abusive means constitutes a grave violation of the constitutional right of worshippers to freedom of worship, in a manifestly disproportionate manner.”

‘Not $1’: US lawmaker urges end to complicity in Israeli abuses

Over the past several years, US Congresswoman Betty McCollum has tried to spur a debate in the United States about the billions of dollars that Washington sends to Israel each year.

The Democrat from Minnesota wants to know more about just where the money is going, while ensuring that Israel is not using US military assistance to commit human rights abuses against Palestinians.

Last month, McCollum introduced her latest bill, which aims to get guarantees that US aid is not used in abuses against Palestinian children, the destruction of Palestinian property, the removal of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, or Israel’s attempts to further annex Palestinian land.

Read more here.

Israeli police block buses of Israeli-Palestinians heading to Al-Aqsa

Israel’s national police chief announced that he was beefing up forces in Jerusalem ahead of expected disturbances in the coming days following Friday’s protests.

Thousands of Palestinians were expected to return to Al-Aqsa Mosque after dark fell for the sacred Muslim night of Laylat al-Qadr.

Television footage showed buses of Muslim worshippers from Israeli Arab cities being stopped by police on the main highway to Jerusalem.

Word of the roadblock spread on social media, drawing hundreds of young men from nearby Arab villages and Jerusalem.

Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies

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