Tension is mounting between Palestinians and Israeli forces.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for calm on Saturday April 24 in Jerusalem.
This speech comes after several days of clashes involving far-right Jews, Palestinians and security forces.
These are the most important clashes for years in the Holy City.
"We want above all to ensure respect for law and public order (...) We now demand that the law be respected and I call on all parties to calm," Netanyahu said in a statement after a meeting of emergency of security officials.
Violent clashes for several days
In East Jerusalem, an occupied Palestinian sector annexed by Israel, hundreds of police have been deployed on the outskirts of the Old City to prevent further violence.
In a context of growing tensions after incidents in recent days between Jews and Palestinians in East Jerusalem, clashes between Friday evening, at the exit of the prayer on the esplanade of the Mosques, of the Palestinian demonstrators to the Israeli forces.
Similar skirmishes took place in particular at the Qalandiya crossing point, connecting Israel and the occupied West Bank, and in Bethlehem.
The police made several arrests.
On Thursday evening, April 22, Palestinians wanted to oppose a march by supporters of a far-right Jewish movement who chanted "Death to the Arabs".
The Israeli forces, mobilized for this march, blocked the Palestinians of whom a hundred were wounded, as well as twenty Israeli police officers.
"We guarantee freedom of worship as every year, for all inhabitants and all visitors to Jerusalem," said Benjamin Netanyahu in allusion to prayers on the Mosques Esplanade, the third holiest site of Islam, during this period of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
The armed wing of Hamas, the ruling Palestinian Islamist movement in Gaza, has supported Palestinians in East Jerusalem and threatened Israel.
The fear of an "escalation of tensions"
Benjamin Netanyahu also declared on Saturday April 24 that the Israeli army was "ready for all scenarios" in the Gaza Strip, after about 30 rockets were fired from the Palestinian enclave in southern Israeli territory. in the night from Friday to Saturday.
But after this statement, another rocket was fired in the evening from the Gaza Strip.
It was however intercepted by the Israeli missile shield, according to the army.
The Gaza Strip, under Israeli blockade, is geographically separated by Israeli territory from the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by the Israeli army.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz also said in a statement that the military "was prepared for the possibility of escalation."
In the event of further rocket fire, "Gaza will be badly hit ... and the Hamas leadership will be responsible."
Faced with tensions, Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi decided to postpone his planned visit to the United States.
Clashes in the past few days in Jerusalem began after police prevented Palestinians from sitting on the steps surrounding the Damascus Gate, overlooking the Old City, a place where they meet in the evenings during Ramadan.
And when far-right Jews planned to protest nearby, many Palestinians saw it as a provocation.
The UN special envoy for the Middle East, Tor Wennesland called "to avoid further escalation".
"Provocative acts in Jerusalem must cease. Indiscriminate rocket fire into populated areas violates international law and must cease immediately."
The United States has expressed "deep concern" condemning "hate" speech.
A neighboring country linked to Israel by a peace treaty, Jordan, which administers Muslim holy sites in East Jerusalem, condemned Israel's "racist attacks", warning that Jerusalem was "a red line."
With AFP
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