Palestinians, Israeli forces clash on outskirts of Jerusalem after funeral

Dozens of Palestinian youths clashed with Israeli forces in a Jerusalem suburb Saturday, the second day of violent confrontations in the holy city where tensions have been running high this week.

Saturday’s clashes, in which 14 people were reported injured, erupted after the funeral of a 23-year-old Palestinian who was shot dead the day before by Israeli forces.

In Saturday’s confrontation in the West Bank district of al-Ram abutting Jerusalem, dozens of Palestinian youths, some of them masked, hurled rocks and exploding firecrackers at troops. They took cover behind barricades of overturned garbage containers and black plumes of smoke from burning tires.

Israeli forces fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel pellets, protecting themselves with plastic masks and shields. Neither side reported injuries.

Palestinian protesters prevented cars from entering the sprawling neighborhood, fearing some might carry undercover Israeli troops. The youths also prepared fire bombs, but it wasn’t clear if any were thrown at Israeli forces.

The clashes came a day after Talat Ramia was shot and killed as he hurled exploding fireworks at Israeli forces in al-Ram. Palestinian youths have recently began using exploding fireworks to rattle — and potentially injure — Israeli forces. The hand-held brown cylinders make a hissing noise and emit a stream of sparks before they explode.

The army said it is investigating the shooting. Israel Radio reported on Saturday afternoon that an initial probe indicated that the soldiers had acted in accordance with regulations. The report said Ramia had launched the fire-cracker at close range, that a soldier had felt his life to be in danger, and had fired back.

Palestinians and their supporters complain that such investigations rarely lead to indictments against soldiers.

The clash that killed Ramia was one of many that broke out throughout Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem on Friday. They were sparked by Palestinian rumors that extremist Jews would try storm the Al-Aqsa compound, Islam’s third holiest shrine. The compound sits atop remains of the biblical Jewish Temple, the most sacred site in Judaism.

The rumors were not true, said Israeli police.

Also Saturday, several days of Palestinian reconciliation talks in Cairo ended without results, participants said.

Political rivals Hamas and Fatah failed to reach agreement on the composition of an interim unity government that would end more than four years of separate administrations in the West Bank and Gaza and lead the Palestinians to elections.

Earlier this month, Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah had reached a breakthrough agreement under which Abbas would head the interim government. The two leaders held more talks in Cairo to try to come up with names for the new government but failed to make progress, participants said.

A senior Abbas aide, Azzam al-Ahmed, alleged that Hamas hasn’t yet settled its internal differences over the unity deal, but Izzat Rishq, a Mashaal aide, said it was Abbas who asked for more time.