Israel on Sunday pledged to restore order in Jerusalem after hundreds of Palestinian protesters were wounded in weekend clashes with Israeli security troops, as a court hearing on a flashpoint property dispute was postponed.
The area around Al Aqsa Mosque has been the site of several nights of violence, the worst since 2017, fuelled by a years-long bid by Jewish settlers to take over nearby Palestinian homes in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem.
Israeli police again faced off against mostly young Palestinians at several places in East Jerusalem late on Sunday.
Police fired stun grenades and "skunk" water cannon, spraying foul-smelling liquid at Palestinians outside the Old City's Damascus Gate,
They scuffled with youths in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, amid other isolated flare-ups across the area.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported seven people were injured at Damascus Gate and Sheikh Jarrah, four of whom were admitted to hospital.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday defended Israel's response to the protests and rioting in East Jerusalem.
"We will uphold law and order, vigorously and responsibly," Mr Netanyahu said before a weekly Cabinet meeting, while pledging to "guard freedom of worship for all faiths".
But the Israeli role in the hostilities, especially Friday's clashes at Al Aqsa mosque compound, Islam's third holiest site, has met widespread criticism.
All six Arab nations that have diplomatic ties with Israel – Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan – have condemned its weekend aggression at Al Aqsa.
Khalifa Al Marar, Minister of State, expressed the UAE’s deep concern over the violence in occupied East Jerusalem and its strong condemnation of the storming of Al Aqsa Mosque and displacement of Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah.
In Jordan, which is the custodian of Jerusalem's holy sites, King Abdullah II condemned "Israeli violations and escalatory practices at the blessed Al Aqsa Mosque".
The Jordanian and Egyptian foreign ministries summoned Israeli envoys on Sunday to lodge protests over the Al Aqsa unrest.
Amid growing international calls for a de-escalation, Tunisia said that the UN Security Council was to hold a closed-door meeting Monday, at its request, on the violence.
The EU, Russia, the US and the UN, and Pope Francis, have all called for calm.
The Red Crescent said more than 300 Palestinians were wounded on Friday and Saturday nights, some hit by rubber bullets and stun grenades.
The UN children's agency Unicef said that over two days, 29 Palestinian children had been injured in East Jerusalem, including a one-year-old.
Eight Palestinian children have been arrested, Unicef said.
Israeli police say they have been attacked with fireworks, rocks and other projectiles, causing several injuries.
Weeks of unrest in East Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim as their future capital, has several causes.
But much of the recent violence stems from a long-running legal effort by Jewish settler groups to evict Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah.
A lower court ruling this year backing the settlers' decades-old claim to the plots of land infuriated Palestinians.
A Supreme Court hearing on a Palestinian appeal had been set for Monday and risked inflaming tensions further.
The Justice Ministry said Sunday that in light of "all the circumstances", it would delay the hearing.
But Jerusalem remained on edge ahead of a march planned for Monday to commemorate Israel's takeover of Jerusalem in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.
Mohammad, a shopkeeper selling incense and prayer robes in the Old City, said Israeli police told him he must shut his doors on Monday afternoon, when Israeli Jews plan to march with Israeli flags to mark Jerusalem's "reunification."
Israel annexed East Jerusalem after the 1967 takeover, in a move not recognised by most of the international community.
The Jerusalem unrest has spread across the Palestinian territories, including demonstrations and clashes in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas voiced "full support for our heroes in Al Aqsa".
Hamas Islamists who control the Gaza Strip have voiced support for the Palestinian protesters and warned Israel of retribution if evictions proceed in Sheikh Jarrah.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh called on Sunday for a united Arab and Muslim response against Israel's "provocative desecration of the sanctity of Al Aqsa Mosque".
Four rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel on Sunday, the army said, as well as incendiary balloons that started 39 fires on Israeli territory.
Hundreds of Gaza protesters massed along the Israeli border late Sunday, some armed with more incendiary devices, AFP said.
Israel responded to the earlier launches by closing the fishing zone off Gaza, a typical sanction in response to launches from the Palestinian enclave.
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