Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and climate activist Greta Thunberg have condemned the ongoing violence in Jerusalem, amid repeated clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian worshipers at Al Aqsa Mosque, as well as over the expected eviction of Palestinian families in the city’s east neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
On Tuesday, Yousafzai took to Twitter to express her concern over the violence and wrote, “The violence in Jerusalem – especially against children – is unbearable. This long conflict has cost many children their lives and their futures. Leaders must act immediately – there is no peace when children and civilians are not safe. #AlAqsa.”
Her tweet was followed by another tweet from Swedish teen activist Thunberg. “Devastating to follow the developments in Jerusalem and Gaza… #SaveSheikhJarrah,” she wrote on the microblogging site on Tuesday.
Dozens of Palestinians have been protesting for the past few weeks over the eviction from their homes in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah. According to them, the Israeli forces want to replace it entirely with a Jewish settlement.
On Tuesday, Israel and Hamas exchanged heavy fire resulting in 22 Palestinians getting killed in Gaza. A dramatic escalation was sparked between the bitter rivals followed by an unrest at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Nine children were among those who were killed in the blockaded Gaza Strip that is controlled by the Islamist movement. As per the local health authorities, 106 people there were wounded.
Tensions in Jerusalem have flared into the city’s worst disturbances since 2017 since Israeli riot police clashed with large crowds of Palestinian worshippers on the last Friday of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.
On Sunday, a court ordered six families who must leave their homes by August 1 in Sheikh Jarrah, despite living there for generations.
