Jerusalem has been on edge for weeks – here’s why

The footage is extraordinary. In a video shared online Israeli police officers are seen throwing what sound like stun grenades into a room packed with worshippers in Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque, one of the holiest places in Islam and the most important symbols in the Arab world.

Against the intermittent booms you can hear the shouts of Palestinians, who were holding Friday prayers during the Holy month of Ramadan. Crowds rush to get out.

Outside, another video shows Palestinians throwing stones and bottles back at police firing rubber bullets and stun grenades at crowds.

Several hundred people, mostly Palestinians, but also Israeli police officers have been injured over the last few days as violence has raged through the holy city.

But why?

The contested city has simmered throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that comes after a long and difficult year. This is especially true in occupied East Jerusalem, which was captured and effectively annexed by Israel after the 1967 Middle East war. The Palestinian neighbourhoods have particularly suffered from economic depression during the last year and (according to the United Nations) a steady uptick in Israeli authorities demolishing or confiscating their private property. The first Palestinian elections in 15 years were also cancelled by the leadership, further depressing many.

However, this latest round of violence was arguably stoked by a decision by Israeli authorities to, during Ramadan, cordon off the historic Damascus Gate to the Old City, where Palestinian families traditionally like to gather during Iftar.

It was the final straw for many young people.

After days of clashes that involved Palestinians trying to access the area (in what the Israelis have called violent riots) and extremist Jewish groups marching through Jerusalem chanting “Death to Arabs” the Israeli police eventually withdrew the barricades. But the anger only boiled over again with the potential forced eviction of four Palestinian families from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, on land claimed by Jewish settlers.

The deeply controversial decision, which Israel’s Supreme Court may rule on tomorrow, could amount to war crimes according to the United Nations but has been dismissed by Israel’s foreign ministry as a private “real estate dispute”.

It has sparked concern from leading political figures across the world including members of Congress and the State Department. The so-called Quartet of Mideast peacemakers, which includes the US, European Union, Russia and United Nations, also expressed concern.

Meanwhile Jordan, which has custodianship of Muslim and Christian sites in Jerusalem, urged Israel to stop what it described as "barbaric" attacks on worshippers in al-Aqsa and said it would step up international pressure.

Even the UAE and Bahrain, who recently signed normalisation deals with Israel, blasted Israel’s actions as “provocations”.

Against this backdrop Israel says to quell further unrest it needs to beef up its police presence in the Old City particularly on Haram ash-Sharif or the Temple Mount, which is considered the holiest site in Judaism, the third holiest in Islam and has been the volcanic core of the decades-long conflict.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israel’s police chief, Koby Shabtai, have doubled down on law and order in statements saying “public disturbances will be met with force and zero tolerance”.

On Saturday several busloads of Arab citizens of Israel were prevented from heading to Jerusalem from towns across the country to mark Islam’s holiest day Laylat al-Qadr. Hundreds were filmed walking to the city.

The Israelis blame Palestinian rioters and violence, and say the actions taken by their security forces are necessary. Palestinian and Israeli experts are divided as to what is ultimately behind it all.

Some point to the fact that Netanyahu recently missed a deadline to form a ruling coalition after Israel’s fourth inconclusive election, in under two years.

The opportunity has now been handed to his rival Yair Lapid, a centrist, who could very well manage to form the next government, ousting Netanyahu from office while the embattled premier is in the middle of struggling with three corruption trials.

They argue chaos in Jerusalem and conflict with the Palestinians could make it harder for Lapid to draw together a coalition particularly if he needs to rely on an alliance with Arab parties in parliament.

But others argue it’s because Netanyahu, usually risk-adverse when it comes to actual security issues, is so distracted by his imminent political demise that he is absent and that is why Jerusalem has erupted. Anshel Pfeffer, an Israeli journalist and expert on Netanyahu, wrote on Twitter that the people left in charge are “top cops, commissioner, Jerusalem district commander and public security minister are all inexperienced blundering bullies”.

Whatever the reason the city will only simmer on. Monday is “Jerusalem day” and the Israeli authorities have allowed events to go on which will see flag-waving displays of Israeli claims to all of the contested city, only stoke more anger.

Alongside the expected Supreme Court ruling on the Sheikh Jarrah evictions (which may be delayed beyond Monday), next week is Nakba day – which commemorates the displacement of Palestinians when the Israeli state was founded in the aftermath of the Second World War.

There is little light at the end of the tunnel.