Israel arrests three Palestinian youngsters
EAST JERUSALEM: Israeli police used rubber bullets and sound bombs to disperse Palestinians gathered in front of the Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem early Wednesday and detained three people as tension escalated during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
After the Taraweeh prayer, a clash broke out between the Palestinians and the Israeli police around the Old City walls of East Jerusalem.
The Israeli police have a very dense force around the Damascus Gate, where thousands of Palestinian youth gather in the evenings of Ramadan.
According to the Palestinian official news agency WAFA, Israeli police arrested three Palestinians accused of throwing rocks and other objects at them outside the Old City of occupied Jerusalem.
It was the fourth consecutive night of unrest outside the Old City, a frequent flashpoint of clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians.
Since the beginning of Ramadan, a total of 29 Palestinian youth, 10 of them children, have been detained in the vicinity of the Damascus Gate.
On Tuesday, Israel banned Palestinian males between the ages of 12 and 40 in the occupied West Bank from entering Masjid al-Aqsa for Friday prayers during Ramadan.
Palestinian women, children under 12, and men older than 50 can enter occupied East Jerusalem without permission if they would like to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque on Fridays, according to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).
Men between the ages of 40 and 50 are required to obtain special permission to enter to Masjid Mosque, it added.
Palestinians with first-degree relatives in Israel will be given permits to visit Sunday and Thursday, COGAT said, adding a further expansion of the permit will be discussed at a meeting next week that Defense Minister Benny Gantz will hold with security officials.
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are required to get special permission to visit holy sites, including Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, and to visit relatives inside Israel.
To exit the occupied West Bank, Palestinians must use one of 23 checkpoints.
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