The Red Crescent in Palestine has reported approximately 90 people have been injured in clashes in Palestine on Saturday.

The clashes on Saturday followed protests on Friday in which at least 205 Palestinians and 18 Israeli officers were injured in confrontations.

Israeli security forces deployed stun grenades and water cannon against Palestinian youth who threw stones, lit fires and tore down police barricades in the streets near the gates of the Old City.

The clashes occurred as tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers prayed at the nearby Al-Aqsa Mosque on Islam’s holy night of Laylat al-Qadr. The Al -Aqsa mosque is Islam’s third holiest site.

Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) said to Al Jazeera: ‘Israeli attacks on Palestinian protesters at the Al Aqsa mosque is a direct outcome of US assurances of ‘unconditional support’ to Israel. The Biden administration needs to recognise US responsibility for Israeli abuses.’

Tensions have mounted in the city, the occupied West Bank and Gaza throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, amid growing anger about the potential eviction of Palestinians from East Jerusalem homes on land claimed by Jewish settlers.

Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch, said to Al Jazeera: ‘The Israeli authorities’ brutal treatment of protesters in occupied East Jerusalem stems from a systematic practice of excessive force and impunity for serious abuses. Its actions seek to quell demonstrations and thereby quash challenges to apartheid.’

Calls for restraint have poured in on Friday from the United States and the United Nations.