Israeli forces arrest nine in East Jerusalem unrest

EAST JERUSALEM — Israeli forces said on Thursday they arrested nine Palestinians during overnight confrontations in East Jerusalem, with tensions surging in the city and across the occupied West Bank.

Palestinians launched a rare general strike on Wednesday in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem, including closing shops, in response to a days-long operation by Israeli forces in the Palestinian refugee camp of Shuafat.

Israel is searching the camp for the suspected killer of 18-year-old Israeli soldier Noa Lazar last Saturday at a Shuafat checkpoint.

With the manhunt for the woman soldier's killer ongoing, Israeli forces said they had arrested nine Palestinians overnight who were "throwing stones and Molotov cocktails and attacking officers", raising to 23 the number of East Jerusalem residents detained since Wednesday.

Munib Al Qutob, an emergency worker, told AFP that there had been "lots of injuries from rubber bullets and tear gas inhalation".

A masked Palestinian in Shuafat, who asked that his name be withheld, told AFP that Israeli forces were “full of anger because they can’t capture” the 22-year-old Palestinian suspect in the killing of the soldier.

Israeli forces said the Issawiya and Silwan neighbourhoods of east Jerusalem also saw overnight clashes, with two officers slightly injured.

Israeli forces said Thursday that border police reservists were being called in to “maintain calm” in and around Jerusalem.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem following the 1967 Six-Day War, a move not recognised by most of the international community.

Clashes between security forces and Palestinians in the area are common.

Bloodshed has been spiralling, particularly in the northern West Bank, where Israeli forces are conducting near daily raids pursuing suspects they accuse of involvement in deadly attacks on Israelis.

Dozens of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, including fighters and civilians, in an escalation that began in March.