At least 19 Palestinian citizens were injured and three others were arrested on Sunday night during renewed clashes between youths and the Israeli occupation police in the east Jerusalem area of Bab al-Amud.
A reporter for the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) said that Israeli police forces stormed Bab al-Amud square and embarked on chasing and assaulting Palestinian young men adding that one kid and two young men were brutalized and detained by the police during the events.
Soon later the situation escalated into clashes with dozens of Jerusalemite youths and Muslim worshipers in the vicinity of Bab al-Amud.
The events started initially after Muslim worshipers were exposed to provocative and aggressive practices by police officers as they were leaving the Aqsa Mosque following the nighttime Isha and Tarawih prayers according to the PIC reporter.
The clashes also spread to other areas around Bab al-Amud including Bab as-Sahira and Sultan Suleiman street while police officers laid siege to Bab as-Sahira with a number of road barriers.
According to Qastal news website one young man suffered a bullet injury when police forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas grenades during their violent raid on Bab al-Amud.
Meanwhile the Red Crescent said that its ambulance crews provided medical assistance for 19 Palestinian citizens during the police attack in Bab al-Amud and transferred four of them to a local hospital.
This was the second day of police violence in the holy city which is seen as part of Israeli attempts to impose a new fait accompli on the Jerusalemites and prevent their night presence in the areas around the Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan to make way for Jewish settlers.
Amid a recent rise in Israeli aggression against the Palestinians across 1948 occupied Palestine (Israel) Jerusalem and the West Bank especially at the start of Ramadan Israeli foreign minister Yair Lapid toured on Sunday evening the Old City’s Bab al-Amud and the area around it along with police chief Kobi Shabtai and other officials and lawmakers.
Palestinian Authority officials accused Lapid of deliberately adding fuel to the fire in the midst of the rising tensions across the occupied territories.
