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JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli police beat and detained a 10-year-old Palestinian child as well as two young men during clashes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan on Friday, locals told Ma'an.

Clashes broke out Friday afternoon in the neighborhood just south of Jerusalem's Old City between locals and heavily-armed Israeli police who had spread across the area, reportedly "provoking" locals.

Dozens of residents were hurt as Israeli forces showered the neighborhood with tear gas, during the clashes and a number of young men were struck by rubber-coated bullets fired by the police.

The Silwan-based Wadi Hilweh Information Center said that Israeli forces detained 10-year-old Udayy al-Rajabi as well as Samir Idkeidik and Ahmad Nadir Audah during the clashes.

According to the center, al-Rajabi was detained while was standing near his house with a group of children.

Israeli police stormed the alley and started to chase the kids before they caught al-Rajabi and reportedly beat him with their rifle butts.

"When his mother tried to follow him, the soldiers threw a stun grenade in her direction," the center added.

Israeli police released al-Rajabi in the evening after he was interrogated for hours at an Israeli police station in Salah al-Din Street.

The report by the center said that al-Rajabi suffered a cut under his eye during the beating which required four stitches.

An Israeli police spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Clashes have erupted with Israeli forces on a near daily basis across East Jerusalem throughout the summer, amid widespread discontent at a major Israeli arrest campaign and the offensive on Gaza that killed more than 2,150.

East Jerusalem fell under Israeli military occupation in 1967. Unlike West Bank Palestinians, however, East Jerusalem Palestinians were given permanent residency cards entitling them to certain benefits.