Palestinian-Israeli clashes
In the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, several Palestinian families were facing eviction from the Israeli Government, according to whom it belonged to the Jewish people.
The families’ plight ignited weeks of demonstrations and clashes in recent days between protesters and Israeli police.
The Palestinian residents have long complained that the flag march on Jerusalem Day, to mark Israel’s capture of Jerusalem and its Jewish holy sites in 1967 during the Six-Day war, is provocative to the people.
The expulsion of the Arabs from their place of residence was seen as a possible war crime by the UN human rights body last week. These evictions and heavy police response of Israel on the compound were hugely criticized internationally.
On May 7th, 2021, a violent clash broke down between demonstrators and the police in the Al Aqsa mosque compound. Protestors threw stones, bottles while officers fired rubber bullets and stun grenades. 305 Palestinians have been hurt which included children in the clashes with the police who were in riot gear in Jerusalem according to local sources.
An Ultimatum, given by the militant group Hamas to Israel to withdraw its security forces from the East Jerusalem compound ended with a sound of three distant explosions.
Hamas’s military wing claimed responsibility for the rocket fire in a statement saying it struck Jerusalem in response to Israel’s “crimes and aggression in the Holy City, and its harassment of our people in Sheikh Jarrah and Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
This was then followed by the Israeli Government who ordered roads near Gaza to be closed and bomb shelters were ordered to be opened in the city of Ashkelon.
On May 10th, 2021 (Monday) a violent intervention by Israeli police firing teargas and stun grenades into the Haram al-Sharif compound, site of the al-Aqsa mosque, had raised tensions significantly given the huge historical sensitivity over the site, not least during the Holy month of Ramadan.
The militant group Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip fired rockets into Israel following clashes between the police and Palestinians at the mosque compound. At least 150 rockets were fired into Israel of which dozens were intercepted by the iron-dome defense system.
Health authorities in Gaza said at least 35 Palestinians – including 10 children – were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Strip since late on Monday, after Hamas launched rockets from the coastal territory towards Israel. At least 233 others were injured.
At least 28 Palestinians and 9 children were killed in the last 24 hours by dozens of Israeli air raids targeted to the gaza strip.
“An Israeli missile hit the apartment which is located in our residential building. Then another missile hit the apartment from the other side. People started screaming,” said Luai Humaid, one of the inhabitants of Al-Jundi residential tower which was targeted by an Israeli air attack on Monday.
“Seven civilian facilities were targeted, including area around two schools and a COVID quarantine centre,” Marouf to Al Jazeera.
A Palestinian teenager has been shot dead by Israeli forces during a raid on Aqaba village, east of the occupied West Bank town of Tubas.
Rashid Abu Ara, 16, was killed after Israeli forces raided the village to arrest another Palestinian, Sheikh Mustafa Abu Ara.
Medical sources also said that Hussein al-Titi, 26, was shot dead during protests against the Israeli army in al-Fawwar refugee camp, south of Hebron.
Among such turmoil, one begs to wonder how it is wrong to protest for something that is rightfully theirs? While hundreds of people are on the verge of annihilation amidst the pandemic and religious persecution, few international players are busy playing politics.
Source: Aljazeera
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Analysis by Ayush Ray