Israeli police and Palestinian protesters clash during holiest night of Ramadan

Israeli police officers detain a Palestinian demonstrator during a protest against the planned evictions of Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of east Jerusalem (Oded Balilty/AP)

Israeli police have clashed with Palestinian protesters outside Jerusalem’s Old City during the holiest night of Ramadan in a show of force that threatened to deepen the holy city’s worst religious unrest in several years.

The clashes come after police blocked busloads of pilgrims headed to Jerusalem for prayer at Islam’s third holiest site.