Israeli security forces Monday raided a Palestinian refugee camp in annexed east Jerusalem, arresting 11 people in an operation police said was aimed at putting "some order" in the area. Dozens of police and border police forces in jeeps entered the densely populated Shuafat camp in the north of occupied and annexed east Jerusalem after midnight, witnesses and police said.
Eleven Palestinians were arrested on suspicion of tax evasion, debts to the municipality as well as involvement in criminal activities and violent disturbances, police spokesman Shmuel Ben Rubi said. "We want to put some order into this village," he told AFP, adding the operation would last "as long as necessary."
Local residents told AFP that the arrest raid also targeted Palestinian workers from the West Bank who live in the area without permits. Palestinian youths pelted police jeeps with rocks throughout the operation and clashes erupted in the afternoon as police dispersed the crowds with sound grenades and rubber bullets. East Jerusalem Palestinians hold Israeli ID cards and are allowed to work in the country, while West Bank Palestinians require work permits from the state.