Tense scenes as unrest over US
Jerusalem move continues
NEWS / JERUSALEM
OPINION
Trump on
Jerusalem: a
quintessential
Netanyahu
by Marwan
Bishara
UPFRONT: 'Jerusalem is
the make it or break
it' (9:38)
WATCH: Trump's
Jerusalem move roundly
condemned at UN
(2:37)
East Jerusalem Jerusalem
Israeli–Palestinian conflict Palestine
Middle East
Israeli forces detain a Palestinian protester in
East Jerusalem [Ammar Awad/Reuters]
Protests have continued for a fourth day
across the occupied West Bank, East
Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip following
a US decision to declare Jerusalem as
the capital of Israel .
The demonstrations on Saturday came
as Palestinian leaders were to meet in
Ramallah to firm up a response to US
President Donald Trump's move.
In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces fired
stun grenades and tear gas as they
charged - some on horseback - through
a crowd of at least 100 peaceful
demonstrators in Salah Eddin Street.
At least 13 Palestinians were detained
and 12 injured as Israeli troops pushed
and beat journalists and demonstrators
at the scene. Among those held was
Jihad Abu Zneid, a member of
the Palestinian Legislative Council.Alan Fisher, reporting from
the protest in Occupied East Jerusalem,
said there were running clashes
throughout the afternoon, adding that
people on the streets were "very
scared" when the police horses started
coming towards them.
"We've seen a
number of
people who
started out with
a very peaceful,
small protest
... to make sure
their voices could be heard," he said.
"They tried to march down the street
when the police told them they didn't
have a permit and couldn't march and
at that point some confrontations
started."
Israeli forces closed down most shops
on Salah Eddin and confiscated
Palestinian flags and posters from
demonstrators.
"One police officer didn't like a poster
that a woman was holding. He went to
take it, the woman objected so he
punched her full in the face," said
Fisher.
A wounded Palestinian protester is evacuated
during clashes with Israeli troops in the southern
Gaza Strip [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters]
Elsewhere, funerals were held in Gaza
for two Hamas fighters and two
protesters who were killed,
respectively, by Israeli air raids and live
fire on Friday.
At least 25 Palestinians, including six
children, were wounded in the evening
bombing, according to the Palestinian
health ministry.
The Israeli raids followed the alleged
launching of rockets from inside the
Gaza Strip.
Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith, reporting
from the edge of Gaza City, close to the
border with Israel, said clashes
continued on Saturday but they were
not as intense as Friday - a day off for
those who are employed in the
besieged territory.
"It's less busy than it was yesterday," he
said, noting that several dozens of
mainly stone-throwing protesters where
confronting Israeli security forces on
the other side of the border fence.
"The Israelis are
responding with
live fire. I've
heard some
cracks of gunfire
in the last few
minutes," said
Smith.
Further south, in Khan Younis, a
slightly larger crowd of about 200
protesters also clashed with Israeli
forces.
Israeli forces also fired tear gas at
Palestinians protesting on Saturday in
Bethlehem.
On Friday, the Red Crescent said that its
workers had attended to nearly 800
injuries in the occupied West
Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip.
'War declaration'
The tense scenes follow Trump's
decision to ignore warnings from the
international community and his
announcement last Wednesday that the
US was formally recognising Jerusalem
as Israel's capital, and would begin the
process of moving its embassy to the
city from Tel Aviv.
The move, which broke with decades of
policy, was roundly condemned by
world leaders, who described it as a
"dangerous escalation" and the final
nail in the coffin of peace negotiations
between Israelis and Palestinians.
Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the
capital of their future state, while Israel
says the city, which is under Israeli
occupation, cannot be divided.
Speaking on
Friday, US
Secretary of
State Rex
Tillerson said
that the
relocation of the
US embassy
would probably
not take place
for at least two years.
Speaking to Al Jazeera on Friday, Saeb
Erekat, secretary-general of the
Palestine Liberation Organization, said
the Palestinian leadership was
considering all options in response to
Trump's announcement.
In a speech in Gaza City on Thursday,
Hamas leader Ismail Haniya said the US
move was a "war declaration against
Palestinians", and called for a new
Intifada, or uprising.
"This decision has killed the peace
process, has killed the Oslo [accord],
has killed the settlement process," he
said.
"The US decision is an aggression, a
declaration of war on us, on the best
Muslim and Christian shrines in the
heart of Palestine, Jerusalem. We
should work on launching an Intifada in
the face of the Zionist enemy," said
Haniya.
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