Rocket salutes were fired Monday (May 10) from the Gaza Strip into Israel, at the end of another day of violence in occupied East Jerusalem where clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police left more than 300 injured earlier.

Sirens were sounded in Jerusalem, located more than 80 km from the Gaza Strip.

This notably forced the temporary evacuation of the Western Wall, the most sacred site where Jews can pray.

The Israeli police had initially indicated that they had "started to evacuate" the Western Wall, before indicating later that the festivities planned for the "Day of Jerusalem" - marking the conquest, according to the Hebrew calendar, of the party. eastern part of the Holy City by Israel - would be able to "continue".

The armed Islamist movement Hamas, in power in the Gaza Strip, had previously threatened Israel if its forces did not withdraw from the Mosques plaza on Monday evening.

As international calls for calm multiply, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the "firmness" of the security forces to ensure "stability" in Jerusalem.

"We support them in this just struggle," he said, denouncing "misleading and erroneous" coverage by the "international media" of the developments in Jerusalem.

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Numerous facial injuries

The resumption of violence coincided with "Jerusalem Day".

Early in the morning, hundreds if not thousands of Palestinians threw projectiles at Israeli law enforcement personnel positioned inside the Mosques Esplanade, Islam's third holiest site named Temple Mount by the Jews. .

The Palestinian Red Crescent has reported more than 278 injured Palestinians, 205 of whom have been hospitalized.

According to Dr Adnane Farhoud, director general of Maqassed hospital, there are numerous injuries to the face and eyes from rubber bullets.

The Israeli police have wounded nine in their ranks.

She also said in a statement to be hard at work to try to curb the violence on the esplanade but also "in other areas of the Old City of Jerusalem".

"Prayer continues as usual" at the Western Wall, which adjoins the plaza, but "we will not allow extremists to threaten the safety of the public," she added.

Not far from the plaza, and a sign of high tensions, a car carrying Israelis was the target of stones thrown and lost control before rushing towards Palestinians, according to the police and images of a journalist on the spot. .

Once immobilized, the vehicle was attacked by several people who threw projectiles at the passengers before an Israeli policeman dispersed them by firing into the air.

In this context of violence, a march of young Israelis that was to take place in the Old City has been canceled, organizers announced on Monday.

As of Friday evening, more than 200 people - the vast majority Palestinians - were injured in clashes between police and Palestinians on the Mosques plaza.

On Saturday and Sunday, calm returned to the plaza but clashes continued between Palestinians and Israeli police in other areas of East Jerusalem, leaving more than a hundred Palestinians injured, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. .

Israeli police also reported injuries in its ranks.

The fate of the families of the Sheikh Jarrah district

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday warned that the Jewish state "will continue to ensure freedom of worship, but will not allow violent riots."

"We will uphold law and order, with firmness and responsibility," he said, defending the development of Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem.

"Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. As each nation builds its capital, we also have the right to build in Jerusalem. This is what we have done and this is what we will continue to do."

One of the vectors of tension in recent weeks in East Jerusalem has been the plight of Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood who are threatened with eviction in favor of Jewish settlers.

A key Supreme Court hearing in this case was to be held on Monday but was postponed "in light of the current context," the justice said.

The Israeli military announced the firing of seven new rockets on Sunday evening and early Monday from Gaza into southern Israel, two of which were intercepted by Israel's "Iron Dome" anti-missile system and three fell in vacant lots without causing injury or damage.

In retaliation, Israeli tanks "attacked Hamas military posts" in the southern Gaza Strip, said the army, which also closed the Erez crossing, the only one allowing the people of Gaza. to go out to Israel.

The "deep concern" of the UN

As the Hebrew state's first ally, the United States called on "Israeli and Palestinian officials to act to end the violence", and expressed concern over "the potential expulsion of Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah". 

In a press release, Paris says it fears for its part "a major escalation" and asks all players to show "the greatest restraint".

The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan, four Arab countries that have normalized relations with Israel in recent months, have expressed "deep concern" calling on Israel for calm.

Ditto for the Middle East quartet (USA, Russia, UN, EU) which called on Israel to show "restraint".

For his part, "the UN secretary general expressed his" deep concern "and urged Israel to" exercise maximum restraint ".

In Jordan, a country at peace with Israel since 1994, hundreds of demonstrators in Amman demanded the closure of the Israeli embassy and the expulsion of its ambassador.  

With AFP

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