Israeli forces on Monday assaulted a Palestinian girl in occupied East Jerusalem during a religious festival marking Prophet Muhammad’s journey to the heavens.
A video footage, shared by local journalist Baraah Abo Ramouz has gone viral on social media and sparked outrage. It show Israeli forces attacking and kicking a minor girl in Damascus Gate plaza, where the Israeli army had amassed to disperse Palestinian crowds.
Two people were arrested and around 31 were injured, with Israeli forces using skunk water, stun grenades and rubber-coated bullets to disperse Palestinians, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Palestinians had gathered in East Jerusalem to observe Al-Isra Wal-Miraj, a day when Prophet Muhammad visited the al-Aqsa Mosque from Mecca during a night journey and later ascended to the heavens, according to Muslims belief.
Almost 90,000 Palestinians travelled to observe the day at al-Aqsa Mosque, Wafa reported.
The two arrests came after Palestinian scouts approached the Damascus Gate chanting religious songs.
In 1967, Israel illegally annexed East Jerusalem. While they considered all the city as its capital, Palestinians also want the Old City to be the capital of a state they seek to establish in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
