East Jerusalem hospital fills up after Al-Aqsa clashes

Palestinians wounded in clashes with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound have filled the halls of an east Jerusalem hospital, where several had lost eyes after being hit by rubber bullets. 

Ezzedine, a 19-year-old carpenter from the West Bank city of Nablus, said Monday that doctors at the large Makassed Hospital told him he would not regain sight in his left eye after a rubber bullet hit him while he visited the holy site.

He said he came to Al-Aqsa to perform Ramadan prayers on Friday night when police began firing stun grenades and tear gas in clashes, that saw Palestinians hurl rocks and other projectiles.

"They want to take a place that's not theirs," he told AFP, referring to Israel's actions at Islam's third holiest site, which is also revered by Jews who call it the Temple Mount.

Israel has insisted it is committed to the rights of Muslims to worship at Al-Aqsa, but that it has been forced to suppress riots at the compound instigated by Palestinians.

Rights group Amnesty International argued that "Israeli forces have repeatedly deployed disproportionate and unlawful force to disperse protesters during violent raids" on Al-Aqsa.

More than 700 Palestinians, and more than 50 Israeli police, have been wounded since Friday in violence at Al-Aqsa and in other parts of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.  

The youngest of six brothers and sisters, Ezzedine declined to give his last name because he had slipped into Jerusalem illegally to pray. His mother said she could not get a permit to be at his side, so she, too, snuck into Jerusalem. 

Makassed director general Adnan Farhoud said the hospital had received over 200 patients since the unrest began.

Most injuries were to the head, chest and limbs, he said -- arguing the wounds showed that Israeli forces intended to cause significant injury. 

When "you mean to harm someone, you shoot at the head", he told AFP. 

Israeli leaders have insisted that police acted appropriately in response to rioters engaged in dangerous provocations.

Provoke the youths

The Palestinian Red Crescent said it opened a field hospital to treat the wounded before evacuating patients to local hospitals. 

The Augusta Victoria Hospital in east Jerusalem opened a special emergency room to treat the injured.

Farhoud said the violence in Jerusalem was the worst he had seen in years, although less severe than in 1990, when nearly 20 Palestinians were killed in clashes with police at Al-Aqsa. 

"Before, they were using live bullets," Farhoud said. "Now, they're using rubber bullets".

One patient, who was wheeled into surgery on a stretcher, had suffered a spleen injury after being hit with a rubber bullet. 

Another, Siraj, 24, sat in a wheelchair in jeans torn away from his legs, which were both wrapped in white gauze. 

White paint covered his shirt from his early morning work renovating apartments. 

He said he went from work to Al-Aqsa to pray, and was wounded when Israeli police entered the mosque and began firing stun grenades.

"They shot everyone, young and old people," he said. "They shot a stun grenade toward me and hit my legs. I feel the pain and I hope it subsides". 

The Israeli actions have served to "provoke the youths", argued Siraj.

Police commissioner Kobi Shabtai told Israeli N12 TV on Monday that in Jerusalem in recent days "we showed too much restraint".

"We are at the stage of taking off the gloves," he said.