JERUSALEM: In some of the most violent unrest the contested city has seen in months, Israeli police and Palestinians clashed in neighborhoods in East Jerusalem overnight on Wednesday.

Tensions are rising this week in East Jerusalem, as a result of police conducting an extensive search in a neighborhood for the man who shot and killed a soldier earlier this week.

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Tens of thousands of Jews were flocking to Jerusalem to celebrate the week-long Sukkot holiday when clashes broke out overnight, which had ended by Thursday morning. They grew into the Old City of Jerusalem, a frequent site of conflict, during this time.

Following the brawl, 23 people, half of whom were minors, were taken into custody by the police. According to police, unidentified protesters hurled fireballs, stones and fireworks in the direction of law enforcement. A street was littered with burning debris, and video footage showing garbage cans set on fire was released by Israeli police.

Police said officers sometimes fired ammunition at the protesters, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
Residents of the Shuafat refugee camp, a poor neighborhood that has long faced neglect at the hands of Israeli authorities, have found life in their community on the outskirts of Jerusalem severely restricted by police manhunts.

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Although entry and exit points in the neighborhood have been reopened, police are blocking every vehicle entering and leaving the city, creating jams and disrupting the daily schedule of locals.

All businesses, schools and retail establishments in East Jerusalem were closed on Wednesday in response to police action and in support of Shuafat.

The escalation in violence in the city of Flashpoint coincides with rising tensions in the West Bank, where Israeli forces have been conducting night raids since spring to dismantle terrorist networks and prevent further attacks, according to the Israeli military.

This year has seen the highest death toll among Palestinians since 2015, with more than 100 deaths. Israel claims that most of those killed were terrorists, but local youth who resisted the infiltration were killed as well as other civilians.

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When Israel won the 1967 Middle East conflict, it also took control of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and later annexed East Jerusalem. It considers the entire city as its monolithic, eternal capital. The Palestinians want those territories with Jerusalem as their capital for their envisioned independent state.