Middle East Monitor / February 14, 2022
The European Union has called for Jewish settler violence and irresponsible provocations against Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem to be stopped, Anadolu reported.
“Concerned about ongoing developments in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, with violent clashes leading to several injuries and arrests. Incidents of settler violence, irresponsible provocations and other escalatory acts in this sensitive area only fuel further tensions & must cease,” the European Union delegation to the Palestinian Territories said on Twitter.
Yesterday Israeli police arrested a Palestinian in Sheikh Jarrah and assaulting others. This came as controversial far-right Member of the Knesset Itamar Ben Gvir who set up a tent “office” in Sheikh Jarrah, in what he said was an effort to show support for illegal settlers in the area.
Dozens of settlers stormed the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood along with Ben Gvir.
According to eyewitnesses, Israeli police beat Palestinians and fired tear gas and sound grenades at them as they protested Ben Gvir’s provocations.
Israeli attacks on Palestinian protesters demanding an end to the forced displacement of families from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem to make way for illegal settlers have intensified since May. Israeli occupation forces stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque on numerous occasions, shot and abused Palestinian worshippers as they prayed the nightly Ramadan prayers. In response, resistance factions fired rockets into Israel.
Israel, which continuously strikes the besieged Gaza Strip throughout the year, then increased its attacks and levelled numerous housing blocks, killing 254 Palestinians including 66 children. Five Israelis were also killed.
Israeli occupation authorities also repeatedly closed off Gaza’s fishing waters and blocked all crossing in and out of the Strip, imprisoning its two million population. Some 60,000 people have been affected by the arbitrary sea closures. Previous reports have shown that at least 90 per cent of Gaza’s fishermen live below the poverty line.
