ISRAELI police with stun grenades fought masked Palestinian protesters hurling stones and plastic chairs outside the Holy Land's most volatile shrine, where past violence has escalated into prolonged conflict.
A wall of Israeli riot police yesterday marched towards young men covering their faces with scarves and T-shirts, sending many running for cover into the Al-Aqsa mosque, one of the Islamic structures in the compound known to Jews as the Temple Mou
nt and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.
They remained holed up in the mosque with police outside for several hours until dispersing before nightfall. No serious injuries were reported.
But even mild troubles at the disputed compound in Jerusalem's Old City can quickly ignite widespread unrest, and police remained on high alert.
"Jerusalem is a red line Israel should not cross," said Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh, condemning the Israeli police action.
Nine police officers were slightly wounded and 18 protesters were detained, police said. Another 25 protesters were hurt by batons or gas inhalation.
The Palestinian president's adviser on Jerusalem affairs and a leader from Israel's Islamic Movement were arrested for alleged incitement, police said.
The police accused the Islamic Movement, a fundamentalist group among Israel's Arab citizens, of provoking the violence.
But Zahi Najedat, a spokesman for the Islamic Movement, said tensions had been high because of a leaflet issued by Jewish extremist groups calling on Jews to come to the site, Judaism's holiest place because it housed ancient temples destroyed by the Babylonians and Romans.
Mr Najedat said: "The police made a belt of tens of policemen around the southern part of the mosque at a time when there a lot of worshippers who felt the force was closing in on them. It was a very threatening environment. People just wanted to defend themselves."
A visit to the site in 2000 by Ariel Sharon, then an Israeli opposition leader, later prime minister, helped ignite clashes that escalated into violence that engulfed Israel and the Palestinian territories for years.
Israel has controlled the site since 1967, but left day-to-day administration in the hands of a Muslim clerical body, the Waqf. Israelis and tourists can visit the compound, but only Muslims are permitted to pray there.
Jewish fundamentalists want to see a third temple built on the site where the mosque now stands and rumours that they are trying to implement this have touched off frequent violence in recent years, with Palestinian groups issuing calls to defend the shrine, which is revered from Morocco to Indonesia.
Despite the violence, Jewish fundamentalists were last night planning on going ahead with a gathering in West Jerusalem aimed at encouraging Jews to pray on the Temple Mount.
"We call on the nation of Israel to ascend the Temple Mount in purity and sanctity," said a statement by organisers.
Some leading rabbis have ruled against prayer on the site, but a growing number of fundamentalists favour it.
