Ramallah: Dozens of people were injured in violent clashes in East Jerusalem on Sunday night, as settlers continued their efforts to forcibly evict Palestinian families from their homes.
For the second day running, Israeli police took to the streets of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, sealed off streets and alleyways near the home of Fatima Salem and her family, and water, cavalry to disperse the crowd. Used stun grenades and rubber bullets.
Attacks by settlers on neighboring Jerusalem continued into the early hours, with groups pelting stones at homes, spraying pepper gas and waving Israeli flags. Others roamed the streets singing and dancing, provoking the locals.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, 31 people were injured after being hit by stun grenades, rubber bullets and pepper gas. These included three paramedics, a journalist and two foreign workers. Police arrested 11 Jerusalemites.
Tensions rose in the neighborhood after Itamar Ben Gwir, an Israeli far-right member of the Knesset, set up his office in solidarity with the settlers trying to seize Palestinian homes.
After the provocation turned to violence, Israeli police and border guards – mostly deployed to protect the settlers – became involved in attacks on Palestinian civilians, further escalating the conflict.
Abdulfattah Eskafi, one of the 28 landlords of Sheikh Jarrah who was hit by the attack, said the situation was getting worse.
“There was an increase in violence against us by settlers after we failed to expel us as a group,” he told Arab News. “They are trying to kick us out and evict us from house to house.”
He described Sunday night’s events as a “street war”, adding that Israeli police protected the settlers and attacked Palestinians with “excessive force”.
“They want to take control of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, which they don’t have control over in every possible way,” Abdulfattah Eskafi said.
Palestinian factions, including Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, threatened a violent response if attacks by settlers and police continued.
Fatah spokesman Osama al-Qawasma told Arab News: “Fatah calls on its members and our people to be present in Sheikh Jarrah to confront settlers and occupation forces who want to convert Sheikh Jarrah to Jewish And want to kick families out of their homes.
“We are in the first ditch, defending every inch of Palestine with all our capabilities.”
Jibril Rajoub, secretary general of the Fatah Central Committee, said that “Israeli terrorism” was blamed for the ongoing tension in Sheikh Jarrah.
He told Arab News that he denounced Israel’s “ethnic cleansing in occupied Jerusalem to everything related to Islam, Christianity and Arabism”.
Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spoke on the phone with Fatima Salem, whose home is under attack.
“We stand with you with heart and soul, and our hearts and minds are with you, and the business will be over soon,” he said.
Abbas also praised Jerusalem’s sacrifices and their perseverance in the face of arbitrary measures by the Israeli occupation forces.
The latest attacks on Palestinians have raised fears of a repeat of the violent conflict between Hamas and Israel, which lasted 11 days in May last year, following similar provocations by settlers and supporters of bin Gwir.
Hamas spokesman Abdullatif al-Qanu told Arab News: “The Sheikh Jarrah people are not alone. Rather, the Palestinian resistance is ready to defend them, and it is following Israel’s behavior closely.”
“We cannot allow a repeat of the experience of displacement from the neighborhoods and regions of occupied Jerusalem.”
The Israeli government is trying to expel about 100 families from 28 properties and give them to settlers. About 100 people from 19 Jewish families currently live in three houses in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
The events of recent days in Sheikh Jarrah have made headlines on the social media platform used by Palestinians.
The neighborhood has a high importance because it is located in Jerusalem, and any events taking place in the city resonate more than what is happening in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Because of its location, the Israeli police cannot resort to lethal force against Israeli Palestinians, as used by armed forces in the West Bank and along the borders with the Gaza Strip, meaning protests in Sheikh Jarrah are more drawn out. has gone.