WORLD BRIEFING / ISRAEL

Police turned water cannons on a raucous demonstration by ultra-Orthodox Jews, as they protested a second consecutive day over the opening of a city parking lot on the Jewish Sabbath when observant Jews are forbidden to drive.

Thousands of ultra-Orthodox protesters were on the streets throughout the city, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. Police said 24 people had been arrested and a 6-year-old boy slightly hurt by a stone thrown by protesters. Four officers were lightly injured as well.

In a major standoff near City Hall, several hundred Orthodox protesters in traditional black suits hurled rocks, garbage and glass bottles at police for several hours. Police broke into the crowd frequently and arrested people they described as instigators, many of them minors. Several of the arrested youths held their traditional black hats in front of TV cameras and prayed aloud as they were dragged to police cars.

At sunset Friday, thousands of protesters flooded Bar Ilan street, a deeply religious part of town, screaming, “Shabbes,” the Yiddish word for Sabbath, and pushing police and news photographers back several blocks before retreating.