Dozens of Palestinian youths on Tuesday smashed a hole in Israel’s separation wall in Abu Dis, near Jerusalem, locals said.

The youths managed to open a 60-cm hole in the wall separating the village from Jerusalem, before Israeli forces arrived at the scene and fired tear gas, stun grenades, and rubber coated steel bullets to disperse the Palestinians, witnesses said.

Fatah leader in Abu Dis Anwar Bader told Ma’an that demonstrations were held in al-Eizariya and Abu Dis in solidarity against Israeli violations in Jerusalem.

The demonstrations turned into clashes when Palestinians threw rocks and empty bottles and closed the roads with burning tires, he added.

Demonstrations in solidarity with Jerusalem have taken place across the Palestinian territories after Israel repeatedly limited Palestinian access to Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque over the past weeks.

The al-Aqsa compound, which sits just above the Western Wall plaza, houses both the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosque and is the third holiest site in Islam.

It is also venerated as Judaism’s most holy place as it sits where Jews believe the First and Second Temples once stood.

(Ma’an – www.maannews.net)