Stun grenades land near RT crew in Jerusalem as violence continues after Trump’s decision (VIDEO)
RT’s crew has witnessed first-hand the violence in Jerusalem, as Israeli police violently dispersed Palestinians protesting Donald Trump’s decision to recognize the city as Israel’s capital. Around 230 Palestinians were injured in the clashes, the Red Crescent said.
Running battles between Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces entered a fourth day, with violence reported in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Saturday.
227 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli police and military during the day, Red Crescent said in a statement. “171 people were wounded in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and 60 others – in Gaza,” the statement read. Those wounded were hit with rubber bullets and suffered from tear gas inhalation, the Red Crescent added.
In East Jerusalem, mounted police cleared Palestinians who attempted to block traffic. Trash cans were set alight in the city and stun grenade explosions were frequently heard. RT’s Charlotte Dubenskij was reporting from Salah ad Din street Saturday, the main thoroughfare of East Jerusalem, when several stun grenades landed meters from her, forcing the RT crew to take shelter behind a parked car.
RT’s team filmed at least one injured elderly man taken away by medics. Palestinian news agency WAFA said mounted police knocked people over in Jerusalem, including journalists. 32 people were injured in Jerusalem, according to Red Crescent. Police were knocking phones from the hands of the reporters while dispersing the crowd, a RIA Novosti journalist reported from the scene.
Some 13 protesters were arrested for throwing stones and physically assaulting officers, police said. Four officers suffered light wounds during the clashes in the disputed city, it added. Palestinians being arrested shouted obscenities and threw stones at the officers, RIA Novosti said.
Palestinians being detained by Israeli Security Services #Jerusalempic.twitter.com/rOXp6DgAST
— Charlotte Dubenskij (@CDubenskij_RT) 9 декабря 2017 г.
The protests in East Jerusalem lasted for about six hours before traffic along Salah ad Din Street returned to normal. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said over 1,000 Palestinians were involved in demonstrations Saturday, including 600 people in the West Bank and 450 in Gaza. The protests were, however, smaller than those Friday, when two Palestinians were killed and over 1,000 others injured.
Dozens of people were injured during riots in Bethlehem Saturday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said as cited by WAFA. Security forces fired tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets when the crowd approached an Israeli military base in the city. The protests occurred at around 20 other locations in the West Bank, including in Ramallah and Tulkarm, the IDF said.
In Gaza, hundreds of rioters amassed in at least eight separate locations on the border with Israel, according to the IDF. The Palestinians hurled stones and burned tires, with the Israeli side shooting tear gas and rubber bullets at them.
Donald Trump’s decision Wednesday to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, despite the Palestinians looking to the eastern part of the city becoming the capital of its future sovereign state, was met with international fury and condemnation. The move has been described as dangerous and counterproductive in terms of reaching peaceful settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A wave of anti-American and anti-Israeli protests swept through numerous countries. Thousands of people took to the streets to denounce the declaration and burn US flags and portraits of Trump in Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
