JERUSALEM - Two Israelis were lightly injured on Monday when violent clashes broke out between Israeli police and Palestinians at a flashpoint shrine in Jerusalem, after the Palestinians threw stones at Jewish worshippers beneath the compound.
The confrontations occured during Israel's annual "Jerusalem Day," which Israelis celebrate to mark its unification of the city during the 1967 Six-Day War and which Palestinians mark as a day or mourning to emphasize a longtime demand to make East Jerusalem the capital of any future state.
Israeli police stormed the compound, which houses both the Jewish Temple Mount
and the al-Aqsa mosque, one of Islam's holiest sites, after Palestinian youngsters, yelling "Allahu Akbar" ("God is Great" in Arabic) hurled stones at Jews praying at the Western Wall situated below.
Two Israelis were injured by stones, but police said no stone had reached the Western Wall area. Meanwhile, one Palestinian was detained in connection with the violence, police said.
The age of Muslim worshippers at Temple Mount prayers Monday would be limited in the wake of Palestinian riots earlier in the day, police officials decided.
Only worshippers 45 and above and carrying Israeli identification cards will be allowed to enter the holy site
Jerusalem district police commander Maj. Gen. Ilan Franko banned Christians and Jews completely from the Temple Mount.
Shrine center of Palestinian uprising
The shine is a frequent scene of Israeli-Palestinian violence in more than four years of conflict. Three
Israeli policement were injured in April during a clash with Palestinian worshippers who threw stones at them.
Palestinian fear Jewish ultranationalists may try to enter the compound in order to destroy it. The Shin Bet security service recently revealed that far right-wingers had planned terror attacks at the site to protest Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza pullout plan.
Palestinians began in September 2000 a four-year-old uprising after Sharon, then opposition leader, entered the Temple Mount compound. However, Israel has presented plenty of evidence to indicate the Palestinians planned to resort to violence in advance.
Jewish ultranationalists frequently try to gain government permission to enter the site, which is controlled by the Muslim Waqf. The Supreme Court rejected two such proposals on Sunday.
First published: 12:56, 06.06.5