LATEST: Israeli Forces Arrest 3 Palestinians as East Jerusalem Tension Continues
The Gazan leadership of Hamas test-fired two homemade rockets early Sunday morning from the settlement of Gush Katif.
A short-range rocket fell inside an open area of the Gaza Strip while a long-range rocket landed in the Mediterranean Sea.
The news will likely bolster Israel’s restrictions on supplies into Gaza to rebuild the area after the 50-day war with Israel this summer. Distribution of construction materials has been largely non-existent since the visit of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to Gaza on October 14.
Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar criticized Israel for the restrictions. However, recent announcements from Hamas officials of the reconstruction of tunnels destroyed in the summer war will also reinforce the Israeli position: West Jerusalem maintains that the tunnels have been used for infiltration into Israel for attacks on its troops.
Israeli Forces Arrested 3 Palestinians as East Jerusalem Tension Continues
Israeli security forces arrested three masked Palestinian men on Saturday evening, accusing them of throwing stones at cars in East Jerusalem’s predominantly Arab neighborhoods of Ras al-Amud, at-Tur and Silwan.
Authorities also said several Jerusalem Light Rail trains were targeted by stone throwers in the Beit Hanina and Shuafat neighborhoods, and a bus driving through the Neve Jaakov neighborhood had several windows smashed.
A protest was forcibly dispersed by Israeli police on the Mount of Olives after fireworks and stones were allegedly thrown at them.
On Sunday morning, a Palestinian driver was arrested at the Hizma checkpoint near Jerusalem after fireworks and Molotov cocktails were discovered in his car, as well as several make-shift fireworks launchers.
Protests and clashes have escalated in East Jerusalem this month, with the rehousing of Israeli Jews in Arab neighborhoods as a catalyst. An estimated 1000 police and security forces have deployed throughout the area.
