Arrests after Clashes at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa
Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli police in Jerusalem on Wednesday after authorities limited access for Muslim worshippers to the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound, police said.
Four Palestinians were arrested and three police were injured in the confrontation, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said.
Police used stun grenades as a crowd of about 400 people gathered near the entrance to the mosque, according to an Agence France Presse photographer.
For the second time in a week, authorities restricted access to the esplanade on Wednesday, allowing only Palestinians aged over 50 to enter.
The violence was the latest in a series of face-offs between Palestinians and Israeli police in the old city of Jerusalem.
On Monday, demonstrators angered by Jews being granted access to the Al-Aqsa compound -- Islam's third holiest site -- clashed with security officers after morning prayers.
The site is the scene of frequent tensions and houses Islamic holy sites the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque. It is revered by Jews as the location of the biblical Jewish temple, considered Judaism's holiest place.
Non-Muslim visits to the Al-Aqsa complex are permitted and regulated by police, but Jews are not allowed to pray at the site for fear it could trigger major disturbances.
Jews pray instead at the Western Wall below.
Israeli Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch threatened on Tuesday to close the compound entirely if members of the two faiths could not pray there peacefully.
"We want (the compound) to stay open for Muslims and Jews, but if Jews can't go there, neither can Muslims," the minister was quoted as saying by military radio.
Tensions between the two communities have spread to other parts of east Jerusalem.
On Tuesday night a bus and a tram carrying Israelis were stoned, injuring one police officer, and a Palestinian man was assaulted by three Israelis who were later taken into custody.
Source: Agence France Presse
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