Clashes broke out, Friday afternoon, between Israeli forces and young Palestinians in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Wadi al-Juz and al-Tur, as well as the towns of Abu Dis and al-Ezariya in Jerusalem district, a local spokesman said. Hani Halabiya, a spokesman of resistance committees in Jerusalem district, told Ma’an News Agency that fierce clashes broke out in Abu Dis and al-Ezariya, during which Israeli troops briefly detained five Palestinian youngsters.
They were held in a police station in the Israeli settlement of Maale Addumim, and in a military base known as al-Jabal (the mountain) for several hours before they were released.
Rami Illariyya, who is a freelance journalist, was among the detainees and said that more than 10 Israeli soldiers assaulted him and the other detainees.
‘They stopped me while I was doing my job in al-Ezariyya beating me and kicking me violently, then they assaulted me again while I was held at Maale Addumim police station,’ he explained.
Clashes were also reported on the Mount of Olives, in the al-Tur neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem.
Witnesses said that Israeli troops filled the area with tear gas, reaching al-Maqasid hospital. Soldiers detained a young man near the hospital, beating him violently. Fifteen more youths were forced to squat in the middle of the street, at a junction about 100 meters from the hospital.
Israeli special forces also broke in firing tear gas and stun grenades in the narrow alleys of the Wadi al-Juz neighborhood. No detentions or assaults were reported there.
See 01/23/15 Jerusalem: Interview with Dimitri Diliani
