Clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian youths erupted anew at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem on Sunday, after more officers and special forces deployed to the compound.Witnesses said Israeli forces fired stun grenades, tear-gas canisters and rubber-coated bullets in the vicinity of the compound, while Palestinian youths were seen throwing stones and setting tires ablaze with electrical wires near the Old City's Al-Majlis Gate.
They also damaged some of the cameras which Israeli police use to monitor the inside of the compound, according to Ma'an's correspondent, who was reporting live from the scene.
Hatim Abdul-Qadir, the former Palestinian Authority minister of Jerusalem affairs, said several worshippers were hurt as police officers raided the area, and that others suffered inhalation injuries from the tear gas.
According to Abdul-Qadir, 10 Palestinians were injured and more than 15 were detained. Israeli police reported that three officers were injured. One was evacuated to a hospital, an official said.
Israeli police helicopters were seen flying over the Old City and other East Jerusalem neighborhoods.
Confrontations also erupted outside the compound, where Israeli police clashed with students from Dar Al-Aytam school in the Old City after they marched through the streets chanting "Allah Akbar." One was detained.
Ahmad Tibi, a Palestinian member of the Knesset, accused Israel of trying to take control of the compound. He called on Arab and Islamic countries to unite to counter "[Benjamin] Netanyahu's aggressive policies."
Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, the mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, warned that the situation could escalate. He told Al-Jazeera that Israeli forces assaulted worshippers indiscriminately, including women and mosque guards. Police were attempting to break into the mosque building and the Dome of the Rock, Hussein added.
But Israeli police denied that their forces had entered the mosque, itself, although several were seen outside carrying ladders and crowbars. Police cut power to the mosque's loudspeakers after they were used to urge Palestinians in Jerusalem to gather near the compound in solidarity with its besieged worshipers.
According to Israeli media, the area was locked down after young men poured oil to make police officers slip in the event they raided the compound. Those reports mentioned the use of stun grenades and pressurized water hoses, but not tear gas.
The Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz reported that youths hurled stones at Israeli forces, who subsequently stormed the compound. The newspaper also said one Molotov was tossed, causing no injuries. The same report added that about a dozen Palestinians were holed up in the compound's mosque, and that they were the only ones remaining after the area was closed to Muslims.
Israeli forces did not, however, close the area to Jews. According to the Hebrew-language daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, "Jewish prayer at the holy site is continuing as usual."
On Saturday evening, Muslim officials and institutions called on worshippers to prevent the entry of right-wing Israeli groups and individuals who had announced their intention to enter the area under armed guard.
The Jerusalem Post, an English-language Israeli newspaper, reported that a religious group calling itself "Eretz Israel Shelanu" had urged its followers "to properly arise to the Temple Mount." The visit was thought to be in commemoration of a visit by the Maimonides 843 years ago, the newspaper added, noting that a number of Israeli lawmakers and rabbis were among those expected to participate.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque sits atop what Israelis and many Jews refer to as the Temple Mount, where the Jewish First and Second Temples were thought to have stood. The location is especially sensitive because some religious extremists seek the mosque's demolition in order to construct a "Third Temple."
Believed by Muslims to be the location where Muhammad ascended to heaven, Al-Aqsa is the third holiest site in Islam. The compound, with its golden Dome of the Rock, is also a focal point of Palestinian national pride.
The mosque has periodically come under attack by extremists from all religious backgrounds, but most notably in 1969 when an Australian set it ablaze in an attempt to herald the second coming of Christ.
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