Palestinians, settlers clash in tense Jerusalem neighborhood

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Palestinians, settlers clash in tense Jerusalem neighborhood #Baaghi

June 22, 2021: Authorities said Tuesday that Palestinians and Jewish settlers hurled stones, chairs and fireworks at each other overnight in a crowded Jerusalem neighborhood where settler groups are trying to evict several Palestinian families.

The threatening evacuation has sparked protests and clashes over last month’s 11-day Gaza war and set a test for Israel’s new governing coalition, which includes three pro-settler parties but wants to avoid internal divisions by hoping to sideline the Palestinian issue. Israeli police and border officials said they had arrested four suspects in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

It was not clear who started the fight. According to police, a woman was allegedly injured when she was hit in the back by a rock. The Red Crescent’s emergency service said its staff treated 20 Palestinians, including 16 with pepper spray and tear gas, and others with rubber bullets. According to him, two other people were injured, including an elderly man who was shot in the head.

The Red Crescent said settlers pelted one of its ambulances with stones and the Israeli army sprayed water on another ambulance belonging to the service. The outbreak of violence is the latest friction in Sheikh Jarrah, where last week’s unrest in the weeks leading up to the 11-day Israeli-Hamas war gained international attention. The ceasefire took effect on May 21, but there has been a long-running campaign by Jewish settlers to evict dozens of Palestinian families.

Tensions remain high over a preliminary test of Israel’s new coalition government, just over a week ago. Under a rotating agreement, Prime Minister Naphtali Bennett heads the right-wing Yamina Party. In two years, he will be replaced by Yar Lipid, the leader of Centrist Yash Atid. Leading the opposition is Le Cadet leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who resigned after 12 years in office. The intervention of the Israeli Attorney General at the height of the unrest has prevented the revelation of extreme delicacy.

But rights groups say the evacuation could continue in the coming months as international attention is dwindling and could spark another round of bloodshed. Settlers have been campaigning for decades to evict these families from the densely populated Palestinian territories in the so-called Holy Basin, in a highly sensitive part of East Jerusalem, close to the walls of the old city.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, the home of Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy sites, in the 1967 war and linked it to a move that was not recognized internationally. Israel considers the entire city as its capital, while the Palestinians consider East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. Settlers say the houses were built on land that was owned by Jews before the war before the creation of Israel in 1948.

Under Israeli law, Jews were allowed to reclaim such property, denying Palestinians the right to reclaim land and housing lost in the same conflict.

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