adminJERUSALEM. – Police and Palestinian youths have clashed in East Jerusalem after the body of a Palestinian teenager was found in the city, prompting a police investigation into a possible link to the murder of three Israeli settlers.
An Al Jazeera journalist at the scene in Shufat, a Palestinian neighbourhood, yesterday reported seeing at least two Palestinians hit by rubber bullets during the pitched battles described by residents as the largest clashes in East Jerusalem in years.
Other sources said dozens of people had been injured and that three Palestinian journalists had been struck by rubber bullets.
Police have also been using stun grenades.
“From 7am the army has tried to block off this neighbourhood . . . they forced me and my employees to leave . . .
“I think they are taking revenge for what happened [the dead settlers],” said Akram al-Salameh, the owner of a bakery nearby who was wounded.
Jerusalem has been tense since the bodies of the young Israeli settlers were found, and the police have reinforced their presence in Palestinian neighbourhoods.
Israeli police told Al Jazeera that they received a call early yesterday about an alleged kidnapping in Shufat.
They said they had not established a link between the alleged kidnapping and the body, which was found in a Jerusalem forest.
Local media have identified the missing youth as 17-year-old Mohammed Hasan Abu Khdair.
The Palestinian’s body was discovered just hours after Israel buried the three young settlers, whose bodies were found in a valley outside Hebron earlier this week.- Al Jazeera.
Online Reporter