Several Israeli soldiers and police, on Saturday night, used excessive force in an attempt to evacuate hundreds of Palestinian worshipers gathered at the Damascus Gate, one of the entrances into the Old City of occupied Jerusalem.
The Palestinian Muslim worshipers were trying to go to the sacred Al-Aqsa mosque for the Ramadan nightly
Taraweeh prayers, according to Palestinian WAFA News Agency.
It stated that Israeli police fired tear gas, stun grenades and waste-water cannons to force the peaceful worshipers to leave the plaza, adding that police physically attacked some of the worshipers during the evacuation.
No injuries were reported at the time of this report, and one Palestinian man was detained, no identity was provided.
Palestinians demonstrated in many areas of the West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip to reject the Israeli assault on peaceful Muslim worshipers in occupied Jerusalem, during the holy month of Ramadan.
The head of the Higher Islamic Council in Occupied Jerusalem, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, on Saturday, commended the Palestinian youths for their bravery in confronting the occupation forces and defending the Al-Aqsa mosque from further violations, the Palestinian Information Center reported.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry, on Saturday, issued the following statement, “Egypt condemns the acts of violence and provocation carried out by extremist Jewish groups targeting the Palestinian brothers residing in the Old City of East Jerusalem which has resulted in the injury of dozens of civilians,” Anadolu Agency reported.
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry, on Friday, held Israel, as the occupying power, responsible for the all injuries that happened as a result of the racist attacks from far-right illegal settlers, Al-Araby reported.
Jordan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Defaillah Fayez, called on the international community to force Israel to “halt its ongoing violations and provocations”, and condemned the ongoing restrictions of Palestinian worshipers from visiting the third holiest site in Islam.
Furthermore, Al-Araby reported that the US state department, on Friday, criticized the Israeli forces and settlers’ brutality that left 100 injured in Jerusalem.
The State Department spokesman, Ned Price, stated on Twitter, “We are deeply concerned by the escalation of violence in Jerusalem,” adding that “The rhetoric of extremist protestors chanting hateful and violent slogans must be firmly rejected”.
~ WAFA, PIC, Anadolu, Al-Araby
