The European Union condemned the violence at the compound and urged authorities to quickly calm tensions.
“Violence and incitement are unacceptable and the perpetrators on all sides must be held accountable,” a spokesman said in a statement. “The European Union calls on the authorities to act urgently to de-escalate the current tensions in Jerusalem.”
The statement added that “acts of incitement around the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif must be avoided and the status quo has to be respected”, using another term for the key religious site.
More than 200 Palestinians were wounded outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem as Israeli police fired rubber-coated metal bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades towards rock-hurling protesters.
Tens of thousands of worshippers had earlier packed Islam’s third-holiest site on the final Friday of Ramadan and many stayed on to protest against Israeli plans to evict Palestinian families from their homes on land claimed by Jewish settlers in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem.
Palestinians have staged a series of sit-ins in the area in recent days denouncing Israeli orders for them to vacate their homes. Israeli security forces have attacked the sit-ins using skunk water, tear gas, rubber-coated bullets, and shock grenades. Dozens of Palestinians have been arrested.
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