Israeli forces are trying to ease tensions with the Palestinians.
The Israeli police authorized the Palestinians to re-access a promenade on the outskirts of the Old City of Jerusalem on Sunday evening, April 25, an AFP journalist noted.
Several hundred young Palestinians were gathered near the Damascus Gate, one of the main entrances to the Esplanade des Mosques in the Old City, when police announced with a megaphone that the area was now open to everyone. .
The police let demonstrators remove the metal barriers, installed since the start of Ramadan, which had blocked access for several days.
The decision came "after consultations with local officials, religious leaders, and an assessment of the situation, while taking into consideration the traders who need to live, and in order to reduce the level of violence," he told AFP a spokesperson for the police.
"Our forces are still deployed on the ground and we will not allow the return of violence."
A group of Palestinians celebrating the removal of barriers and waving a Palestinian flag were chased away by police, AFP journalists said.
"What must be kept in mind in this climate is that an accident (or) a death can change the situation," warns Gwendoline Debono, correspondent for France 24 in the Middle East.
"Tensions have several centers of gravity" in Jerusalem
01:07
Violent clashes
Clashes in the past few days in Jerusalem began after police prevented Palestinians from sitting on the steps surrounding the Damascus Gate, 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 most violent clashes took place Thursday evening when Palestinians wanted to oppose this march of demonstrators, who chanted "Death to the Arabs".
The Israeli forces blocked the Palestinians, about 100 of whom were wounded, as well as about 20 Israeli police officers.
Palestinian protesters threw stones and water bottles at the police, who responded with stun grenades and water cannons.
Dumpsters were also set on fire near the Damascus Gate and, police said, Molotov cocktails were thrown at the Qalandiya crossing point between Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.
A projectile fired from the Gaza Strip
The armed wing of Hamas, the ruling Palestinian Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip, has supported Palestinians in East Jerusalem and threatened Israel.
The Israeli army announced on Sunday evening that a projectile had been fired "from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory", without further details.
Three rockets were fired Saturday evening from the Gaza Strip, one of which was intercepted by the Israeli missile shield, one exploded in a vacant lot and one fell in the Gaza Strip, the army said at the time.
With AFP
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