More than 150 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli police on Friday’s mosque esplanade in the Holy City.
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Posted on 4/16/2022 7:31 AM Updated on 4/16/2022 7:32 AM
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“We urge all parties to exercise restraint in avoiding any provocation by word or deed.” In a press release issued Friday evening, April 15, the US State Department said it was “deeply concerned by the violence in Jerusalem”. More than 150 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli police on the mosque esplanade during the day.
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The third holiest site in Islam, the Esplanade of Mosques – also called the Temple Mount by the Jews – is located in the Old City of East Jerusalem. Occupied by Israel since 1967, this area has been the scene of numerous violent clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian demonstrators. Friday’s opposition is the first in this location since the start of Ramadan, leaving a conflagration in the Palestinian territories.
According to a late afternoon report by the Palestinian Red Crescent, “153 wounded Palestinians” were taken to hospitals in Jerusalem and “dozens” others were being treated at the scene. The Israeli police, for their part, reported at least three wounded in their ranks. Around 400 people were arrested, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, an NGO that defends prisoners.
France also called for “maximum restraint,” while Qatar, which has mediated between Israel and the Palestinians in the past, “strongly condemned” “attacks on Muslim worshipers.”