Live

West Asia

|

Palestine

Israel forces detain 20 Palestinians in East al-Quds

Israeli forces detain more than 20 Palestinians, mostly teenagers, in the past 24 hours.

schedule

A Palestinian protester is detained by Israeli forces in al-Quds (Jerusalem)’s old city, May 17, 2015. (© AFP)

Israeli military forces have detained more than 20 Palestinians, mostly teenagers, in the past 24 hours, a Palestinian NGO says.

Director of the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society in al-Quds (Jerusalem) Nasser Qaws said in a statement on Tuesday that most of the detained Palestinians were aged 14 to 16, Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported.

The detainees appeared before Israeli courts. Most of them were remanded in custody and the rest were released after paying fines or posting bail.

A Palestinian protester is detained by Israeli forces in East al-Quds (Jerusalem), May 17, 2015. (© AFP)

On Sunday, Israeli security forces also arrested two Palestinians, including a 19-year-old boy, in East al-Quds.

Since Sunday morning, tensions were high around the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, as Israelis celebrated a holiday of Shavuot in the compound.

The Al-Aqsa compound, which lies in the Israeli-occupied Old City of al-Quds, is a flashpoint. The location of the compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, is the holiest site in Judaism. The mosque is Islam’s third-holiest site after ones in Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

Israeli forces attack Al-Aqsa Mosque to prevent Palestinians in al-Quds from holding religious ceremonies there.

MRA/KA/HJL