Israel arrests Palestinians after stone throwing

Israeli police arrested seven Palestinians, including five youths, on Saturday in another day of violence sparked by tensions over the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City.

The arrests took place in the Palestinian neighborhood of Issawiya, on Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus, after young demonstrators threw rocks at police, a statement said.

Overnight, three police were injured when a firebomb struck their van in the Jabal Mukaber district and eight Palestinians were arrested, including at least three youths.

It came after four days of clashes this week, including Friday, when a rocket fired from in the Islamist Hamas-controlled Gaza struck a parked bus in the southern Israeli town of Sderot without causing casualties.

Subsequently, Israel bombed a training camp of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed branch.

There were no casualties.