More than a hundred injured in clashes between Israelis and Palestinians in East Jerusalem. The incidents took place near the Damascus Gate and involved members of the Israeli extreme right. Police have arrested 50 people from both sides for throwing missiles and setting off fireworks.
More than a hundred people have been injured on Thursday night in a series of clashes between Israelis and Palestinians in the Old City of Jerusalem, where the tension has not stopped increasing for more than a week.
The Damascus Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem was the epicenter of the violence, which occurred mainly between Palestinians and Israeli policemen, who since the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan have prohibited crowds of people in this central place .
The moment of maximum tension, however, did not occur when a group of some 300 young Israeli ultra-rightists marched towards the Damascus Gate, summoned to “defend the Jewish honor” of the city.
The extremists, from the supremacist group ‘Lehava ‘, could not reach the place where the Palestinians were, but they remained for hours chanting anti-Arab slogans, such as “death to the Arabs”, next to the police fence that contained them.
Tension spiral
In the hours after the incidents of the highest caliber, there were also multiple violent episodes between young people on both sides and that were quickly disseminated through social networks , which have become a major protagonist of this spiral of tension.
According to the emergency services of the Palestinian Red Crescent, 105 were injured among the protesters, of which 22 had to receive medical attention in hospitals. The Israeli police have explained, for their part, that some 50 people have been arrested for throwing stones and fireworks , as well as assaulting officers and carrying out other violent acts throughout the night.
Agents have also pointed out that Jewish extremists have also thrown stones and set fire to street furniture in various parts of the city. The clashes took place a day after a series of brawls between Arabs and Jews broke out in Jerusalem.
