200 PALESTINIANS INJURED IN CLASHES WITH POLICE AT AL-AQSA

Violence erupted when Israeli police in riot gear deployed in large numbers as Muslim worshippers were holding evening prayers | Cops said six of their personnel were also hurt

JERUSALEM

A NIGHT of heavy clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and elsewhere in Jerusalem left more than 200 Palestinians wounded, medics said on Saturday, as the city braced for even more violence after weeks of unrest.

Nightly protests broke out at the start of the holy month of Ramadan over police restrictions at a popular gathering place and have reignited in recent days over threatened eviction of Palestinians from their homes in east Jerusalem, which is claimed by both sides in the decades-old conflict.

It was unclear what set off the violence at Al-Aqsa, which erupted when Israeli police in riot gear deployed in large numbers as thousands of muslim worshippers were holding evening prayers at the sprawling hilltop esplanade.

Throughout the night large groups of protesters could be seen hurling rocks as Israeli police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades. At one point, the police entered one of the buildings in the complex, which includes the Al-Aqsa mosque and the golden Dome of the Rock.

The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said 88 of the wounded were hospitalised. The Palestinian health ministry said 83 people were wounded by rubber-coated bullets, including three who were shot in the eye, two with head injuries and two with broken jaws.

The Israeli police said protesters hurled stones, fireworks and other objects at them, wounding six officers who required medical treatment. “We will respond with a heavy hand to all violent disturbances, riots and attacks on our forces,” it said in a statement.