Israel Police clashed with Palestinians at a number of tense friction points in Israel, including the Temple Mount and in east Jerusalem throughout the day on Friday. Tear gas and rubber bullets were fired after rioting broke out in response to the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
A parade of hundreds of rioters waving Hamas flags passed through the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal Mukaber on Friday afternoon, turning into a violent confrontation as they threw stones and firecrackers at Israel Police forces in the area, according to a Police statement.Two suspects from the incident have been taken into police custody for assaulting officers.Earlier in the day, police forces clashed with Palestinians on the Temple Mount after hundreds of youth threw stones and Molotov cocktails at police officers. Jerusalem District police commander Doron Turgeman ordered police to enter the Temple Mount and handle the rioters near the police station, while allowing those not involved to leave the Temple Mount.
A live stream from the complex showed Palestinians surrounding police, who then fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse them. Paramedics were seen operating at the scene.
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Twenty-six people were arrested on Friday according to police reports: twelve of them at Temple Mount, and the remainder across east Jerusalem. At least four people were detained for possession of assault weapons. A video from outside the Temple Mount complex shows an Israel Police officer running up the stairs only to be forcefully pushed over by a rioter to cheers from the surrounding crowd.
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83 people were injured in clashes over the course of the day on Friday, according to the Red Crescent rescue service.Additional clashes broke out near the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City on Thursday evening. At the same time, a convoy of 150 cars drove past Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem. Both incidents were broken up by police officers.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians had gathered on the Temple Mount to celebrate what Hamas is calling a victory over Israel, after a ceasefire was implemented on Thursday night after 11 days of fighting between Gaza and Israel.
Hamas has insisted that Jerusalem is a redline and that agreements were made concerning Jerusalem in the ceasefire, despite Israeli officials denying that any such agreements were made.
Fireworks, singing, and parades down the streets of Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem could be seen in footage shared on social media, accompanied with the hashtag #Palestine_Victorious.
Thousands of Palestinians launched fireworks and waved Palestinian flags. Video showing crowds entering the Temple Mount complex showed Palestinians chanting and throwing objects at Israeli police who stood along the side.
An additional 700 Border Police soldiers were deployed across Jerusalem since Thursday night and through Friday in order to maintain public safety and deal with disturbances as the news of the ceasefire with Gaza seems to have done little to quiet the violence that continues to erupt across the city.Border Police were stationed by a number of neighborhoods, including Silwan and Issawiya, where they checked all vehicles entering and exiting the neighborhoods.In a statement regarding the events at Temple Mount, a police spokesperson gave a statement saying that “Israel Police allows freedom of worship and religion for every person, but on the other hand we will not allow a disturbing and violent riot that endangers the police forces and the public.”Following the scenes in east Jerusalem on Friday morning, Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir called on Public Security Minister Amir Ohana to allow police officers to use live rounds against rioters instead of rubber bullets.”The Israeli government continues to fold in the face of terrorism,” said Ben-Gvir. “They have castrated the police and undermined their ability to respond.””In the United States, for provocations like those seen today in east Jerusalem, the terrorists would have been shot in the head. Our policy is to abandon the police. It is time to allow the police to open fire… I call on Minister Ohana to allow the police to engage in live fire,” he concluded.Last week, on Jerusalem Day, riots broke out on the Temple Mount amid tensions surrounding Al-Aqsa and planned evictions in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. As tensions built, Hamas fired a barrage of rockets toward Jerusalem, sparking Operation Guardian of the Walls, which the Palestinians referred to as Sword of Jerusalem. After 11 days of fighting, Israel and Gaza reached a ceasefire overnight Thursday through Egyptian mediation.
