Clashes between Palestinians, Israeli police in Jerusalem

Clashes between Palestinians, Israeli police in Jerusalem



Israeli police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades at Palestinians following a dispute over a holy site in Jerusalem.

Muslim worshippers retaliated by throwing stones at the Western Wall following days of intense violence in Jerusalem's Old City.

Fighting erupted shortly after Palestinians rushed to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which was reopened following an 11-day boycott by Muslims over Israeli security measures.

The head of the Arab League warned Thursday that Israeli attempts to control highly sensitive religious sites in Jerusalem by force risk igniting a 'religious war'.

The Red Crescent said tensions rose when Israeli troops closed one of the gates to the Haram al-Sharif compound, known to Jews as Temple Mount, as large numbers of worshippers tried to enter.



The aid charity went on to say 37 Palestinians were wounded, including some by rubber bullets and beatings, and that several people suffered broken bones.    

The mosque had been at the center of an Israeli-Palestinian standoff over recent Israeli security installations including metal detectors and surveillance cameras, which Israel has since removed.

Israel installed the new security devices at the shrine after Israeli Arabs shot and killed two police officers from within the site.

Palestinians viewed the move as an attempt by Israel to assert further control over the site, which houses the revered Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

They had been praying in Jerusalem's streets outside the shrine to protest the security measures taken since the July 14 attack.

Israel is 'playing with fire and will only ignite a religious war and shift the core of the conflict from politics to religion,' warned Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit.

He added: 'Handling holy sites lightly and with this level of arrogance seriously threatens to ignite a religious war, since not one single Muslim in the world would accept the desecration of Al-Aqsa mosque.'



Thousands of worshippers had earlier streamed into the compound for afternoon prayers, ending a boycott over security measures introduced following a July 14 attack in which two police officers were killed.

Controversial new metal detectors and barriers were removed as a result of the boycott of the site, the third holiest in Islam.

The site includes the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Some worshippers cried as they entered while others shouted 'Allahu Akbar' (God is Greatest).

Muslims had refused to enter the compound and prayed in the streets outside after Israel installed the new security measures. Palestinians viewed the move as Israel asserting further control over the site.

Israeli authorities said the measures, including metal detectors, were needed because the July 14 attackers smuggled guns into the compound and emerged from it to attack the officers.

Deadly unrest erupted in the days after the new measures were introduced, with clashes breaking out around the compound and in the occupied West Bank, leaving five Palestinians dead.

A Palestinian also broke into a home in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank last week and stabbed four Israelis, killing three of them.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu today called for 19-year-old Palestinian Omar al-Abed to be executed for killing Yosef Salomon, 70, and his children Chaya, 46, and Elad, 36.

The compound is the site of the Temple Mount, where an ancient Jewish temple is believed to have been built by King Solomon in 957BC.

It was later believed to be the site of a temple built by Herod the Great, which is said to have been destroyed in 70AD by the Romans.

The same compound is the third holiest site in Islam, and is believed to be the place from where the Prophet Muhammed ascended to heaven.



Once Israel removed metal detectors and cameras Thursday, Muslim leaders told the faithful to return to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the compound. Droves of Palestinians entered for afternoon prayers, some waving national flags.