Scuffles in Jerusalem in second night of violence

Israeli police scuffled with Palestinians for a second night Friday in annexed east Jerusalem.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli police scuffled with Palestinians for a second night Friday in annexed east Jerusalem, amid mounting tensions over a ban on gatherings and anger fuelled by videos posted of attacks.

The fresh violence came after clashes overnight Thursday, in which the Palestinian Red Crescent reported at least 105 wounded, of whom around 20 were transferred to hospital, while the Israeli police said 20 officers had been injured.

It had flared on Thursday outside one of the entrances to the walled Old City, after police had barred access to some areas where Palestinians usually gather in large numbers during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Tensions were fuelled by the arrival of far-right Jews at the end of a march during which they harassed Palestinians and chanted "death to Arabs".

After calm during daylight hours on Friday, scuffles broke out again as thousands of Muslim worshippers left Al-Aqsa Mosque compound after evening prayers, when they found themselves confronted by dozens of armed police, including officers on horseback.

Clashes broke out between worshippers and police, with water bottles hurled at officers who fired stun grenades to disperse the crowd.

The United States, Israel s ally which under President Joe Biden has encouraged greater rights for Palestinians, said it was "deeply concerned" by the escalation in violence in the flashpoint holy city.

"The rhetoric of extremist protestors chanting hateful and violent slogans must be firmly rejected," State Department spokesman Ned Price wrote on Twitter.

The European Union and United Nations also appealed for restraint.

Hundreds of Palestinians also gathered Friday at the Qalandiya crossing between Jerusalem and the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, police said.

In Bethlehem, also in the West Bank, Palestinians threw stones and petrol bombs towards the tomb of biblical matriarch Rachel, a shrine venerated by Jews and Muslims, police said.

There have been nightly disturbances in the area since the start of Ramadan on April 13, with Palestinians outraged over police blocking access to the promenade around the walls, a popular gathering place after the end of the daytime Ramadan fast.

Meanwhile, three rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip on Friday night towards southern Israel, the army said.

One rocket was intercepted by Israel s Iron Dome air defence system and the two others shot down near the barrier between the Gaza Strip and the Jewish state, which is heavily guarded by the Israeli army.

-  War zone  -

Police said that after night prayers at Al-Aqsa mosque Thursday "hundreds of rioters began disrupting the order violently, including throwing stones and objects at forces".

Stun grenades were fired and water cannon deployed to disperse the "rioters" and force them towards less central areas of east Jerusalem, they said.

"It was like a war zone; it was dangerous," a Palestinian who was near the clashes outside the Old City told AFP, of the violence on Thursday. "That s why I left the place."

Tensions have been high in Jerusalem after a series of videos posted online in recent days showing young Arabs attacking ultra-Orthodox Jews and Jewish extremists taking to the street to bully Arabs in nightly confrontations.

On Thursday night, the Israeli far-right group Lehava organised a march ending opposite the Old City attended by hundreds to protest the anti-Jewish violence.

Police erected barriers to keep them from entering the mainly Arab location.

The Palestinian presidency condemned "the growing incitement by extremist far-right Israeli settler groups advocating for the killing of Arabs, which in recent days manifested in a wave of attacks against Palestinian civilians in the Old City".

A statement late Thursday on the official Palestinian news agency Wafa urged the international community to protect Palestinians from the "settler" attacks, which it alleged were encouraged by the Israeli government.

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamist Hamas movement that rules the Gaza Strip, voiced support to east Jerusalem Palestinians.

"The spark you light today will be the wick of the explosion to come in the face of the enemy," it said in a statement.

- Calls for calm -

Jordan condemned the "provocations" carried out by the "extremist" Jewish groups, calling on Israel to prevent such incidents and lift restrictions on access to Al-Aqsa mosque.

Videos on social media also showed Palestinians attacking ultra-Orthodox Jews in the early hours of Friday, with reports of Israeli vehicles being stoned in and near east Jerusalem.

Jerusalem mayor Moshe Lion said he tried to cancel the Lehava march, but police told him it was legal, noting that "dozens" of Jews who attacked Arabs had been arrested in the past two weeks.

Speaking with public broadcaster Kan, Lion said he was in talks with leaders of the Palestinian east Jerusalem neighbourhoods "to end this pointless violence".