Protesters gather in London after a second night of violence in Jerusalem over planned evictions 

Crowds of protesters have gathered in central London to demonstrate against planned evictions of Palestinian families in Jerusalem this week, which has sparked days of clashes in the holy city.

Protesters waved Palestinian flags and held banners demanding ‘Freedom for Palestine’ as they rallied outside Downing Street on Sunday.

Similar protests were also scheduled to take part in Manchester, Birmingham and Bradford.

Elsewhere on Sunday, demonstrators also gathered in the Netherlands, Jordan and Lebanon.

They come as dozens of people were injured in clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police in Jerusalem on Saturday.

It was the second night of violence in the city following days of unrest over plans to evict Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.

Palestinian medics said 90 Palestinians were injured on Saturday night. One Israeli police officer was hurt, according to Israeli police. 

Sheikh Jarrah has been the centre of a long-running land dispute. East Jerusalem has been occupied by Israel since 1967, with the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood claimed for illegal settlements.

Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.

The Israeli Supreme Court on Sunday delayed a hearing due for Monday on the possible evictions amid the unrest.

‘In all the circumstances and in light of the attorney general’s request, the regular hearing for tomorrow, May 10, 2021 [is] cancelled,’ the court said in a statement, adding that a new hearing would be scheduled within 30 days.  

The violence on Saturday broke out as tens of thousands of Palestinians prayed outside Al-Aqsa Mosque for Laylat al-Qadr, the holiest night in the month of Ramadan.

Earlier that day, Israeli police had stopped dozens of buses carrying worshippers to the mosque, saying they would not be allowed ‘to participate in violent riots’.

Instead, hundreds marched on highways leading to the city. 

Skirmishes on Friday led to more than 200 Palestinians and at least 17 Israeli police officers being wounded, according to police and the Palestinian Red Crescent. 

Small scuffles have also been reported on Sunday between Israeli and Palestinian students protesting outside the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said security forces were acting to maintain both law and order and freedom of worship.

Addressing a Cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu that Israel ‘will not allow any extremists to destabilise the calm in Jerusalem. We will enforce law and order decisively and responsibly.’

‘We will continue to maintain freedom of worship for all faiths, but we will not allow violent disturbances,’ he said. 

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has condemned Israel’s actions as ‘sinful attacks.’

He said he held the Israeli government responsible for the unrest and voiced ‘full support for our heroes in Al-Aqsa’. 

The Islamist movement Hamas, which rules Gaza, urged Palestinians to remain at Al-Aqsa until Ramadan ends, warning that ‘the resistance is ready to defend Al-Aqsa at any cost’.

Al-Aqsa mosque is the third holiest site in Islam, after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. However, the complex is also the holiest site in Judaism, known as Temple Mount. 

Clashes frequently break out near the complex but the violence this weekend has been the most severe in years. 

The United States – a staunch Israeli ally whose tone has toughened under President Joe Biden – said it was ‘extremely concerned’ and urged both sides to ‘avoid steps that exacerbate tensions or take us farther away from peace’.

‘This includes evictions in east Jerusalem, settlement activity, home demolitions and acts of terrorism,’ the State Department said.

The United Nations has urged Israel to apply ‘maximum restraint in the use of force’ against demonstrators and to call off planned evictions. 

The European Union called on the authorities ‘to act urgently to de-escalate the current tensions,’ saying ‘violence and incitement are unacceptable and the perpetrators on all sides must be held accountable’.

Pope Francis on Sunday called for an end to the violence in East Jerusalem.

‘I invite everyone to seek shared resolutions so that the multi-religious identity and multi-culture of the holy city might be respected and so that fraternity might prevail. Violence only generates violence. Let’s stop these clashes.’ 

Russia also voiced ‘deep concern’ and called the expropriation of land and property in the occupied Palestinian territories including East Jerusalem ‘a violation of international law’.

The Arab League has called on the international community to prevent forced evictions of Palestinians.

In neighbouring Jordan, which administers Al-Aqsa, the government issued a statement describing the violence towards worshippers as ‘barbaric’. 

Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia, Pakistan and Qatar were among the other Muslim-majority countries that also blasted Israeli forces for the violence. 

Israel also drew criticism from Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, two countries that signed historic normalisation accords with the Jewish state last year.

Iran called on the UN to condemn the Israeli police actions, arguing that ‘this war crime once again proved to the world the criminal nature of the illegitimate Zionist regime’.

On Sunday, Israeli police gave the go-ahead for the annual Jerusalem Day parade, a flag-waving display of Israeli claims to Jerusalem. 

Monday’s parade will pass through Jerusalem’s Old City, which is part of Occupied East Jerusalem.