the provocateurs appear to be the Israelis:
"Jerusalem Violence Continues
Israeli security forces forced their way into Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque compound in the early hours of Monday morning, firing rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades at hundreds of Palestinians who fought with police through the night.
The crackdown comes as Israeli nationalists prepare to conduct an annual march through Jerusalem’s Old City to commemorate its capture by Israeli forces in 1967.
Fuel on the fire? Israel’s security services have urged police to alter the planned march route to minimize the possibility of confrontations between marchers and Muslim residents of the Old City.
According to the Times of Israel, “the Israel Defense Forces, Shin Bet security service and Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians all say they believe that the current route, which would have thousands of Jewish Israelis pass through the flashpoint Damascus Gate and Muslim Quarter, would likely result in violence.” Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz has reportedly accepted this assessment and supported changing the route.
Eviction decision looms. Tensions between Jerusalem’s Israeli and Palestinian communities have been particularly high in recent weeks, with almost nightly clashes reported between Palestinians and Israeli far-right groups or police. Violence reached a peak on Friday when Israeli police and al-Aqsa’s worshippers clashed. Like on Monday, police again fired rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades at Palestinians, who threw stones. Hundreds of Palestinians have been injured in recent days, along with dozens of Israeli police.
The situation has worsened in advance of an expected Supreme Court decision on whether to permit the forced eviction of dozens of Palestinians from their homes in the predominantly Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has said evictions would violate Israel’s obligations as an occupying power under international law.
The court has decided to postpone its decision for a month after families facing eviction asked Israel’s attorney general to intervene in the case.
International criticism. Monday’s confrontation came hours after U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Meir Ben-Shabbat. Sullivan expressed “serious concerns” about the situation in Jerusalem and about the potential evictions in Sheikh Jarrah as well as encouraging the Israeli government to “pursue appropriate measures to ensure calm during Jerusalem Day commemorations.”
Sullivan’s words follow international condemnation, including from Arab countries, some of which have recently normalized ties with Israel. The United Arab Emirates “strongly condemned” both Friday’s violence and evictions while Jordan has called Israeli actions in al-Aqsa as “barbaric.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Israel a “terror state” for “mercilessly and unethically attacking Muslims in Jerusalem.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—who may be on borrowed time following his failure to form a government last week—has largely ignored international criticism, saying violence has been stirred up by extremists. Netanyahu appeared to shrug off pressure to halt the Sheikh Jarrah evictions: “Jerusalem is our capital, and we will continue to build there,” he said."
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