Jerusalem police arrest 5 Arab rioters in Sheikh Jarrah
Jerusalem’s police arrested three Arabs in the city on Wednesday night during violent riots in the Shimon Hatzadik neighbourhood, also known as Sheikh Jarrah.
Members of Israel’s left-wing community protesting at Shimon HaTzaddik neighbourhood against the growing Jewish presence near the Arab neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Jerusalem, Apr 16, 2021. Photo by TPS
The police stated that its forces operated in Sheikh Jarrah following a riot by hundreds of protesters who threw rocks and bottles at police forces. The police dispersed the rioters using crowd control means, including horses.
The rioters chanted in support of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups and in called for terrorist attacks.
The police arrested five suspects for assault, including an Arab who was wearing a Red Crescent medical staff vest and was caught throwing stones.
An Israeli photographer was injured by bottles thrown by the rioters at Jewish homes in the area.
The nightly riots in the area are in protest of pending court-issued eviction orders for several Arab families who are living illegally in Jewish-owned property.
The Jerusalem District Court recently rejected several appeals and ruled that the eight Palestinian families who have lived there illegally for decades should be evacuated. The court initially offered them to pay rent to the Jewish owners of the land on which the Jordanians built the homes, but they refused to do so and were therefore ordered to be evicted.
The High Court of Justice is expected to issue its final decision on Thursday, and if the Court does not accept the final appeals, the families will be forced to vacate their homes.
Muhammad Def, head of Hamas’ military wing, issued a “last and explicit warning” on Tuesday to Israel that Hamas will not stand by idly in the face of Israel’s “aggression against the Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood” in Jerusalem, and Israel will “pay a heavy price” if it does not cease its actions there.
Def warned Israel that if it does not stop its legal action against Arab residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in Jerusalem who are living illegally on Jewish-owned land, Hamas will not remain silent and Israel will pay a heavy price.
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal has threatened that the 28th day of the Muslim month of Ramadan, on May 9, will be the turning point in the “great battle against the Judaization and control of Jerusalem, and the attempt to divide the use of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
The 28th day of Ramadan coincides with Jerusalem Day on Sunday night.
The 28th day of Ramadan marks the “Lil al-Qadr”, the most sensitive night in Ramadan with deep religious significance, in which the angel Gabriel brought down the Quran and opened the gates of heaven for prayers, according to the Islamic faith.
“We have no future, or state, or self-determination without Jerusalem,” said Mashaal in an interview with Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV last Sunday.
