Source: Yahoo News
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli riot
police entered one of Jerusalem's most revered and politically
sensitive religious compounds on Wednesday to disperse rock-throwing
Palestinians opposed to any Jewish attempts to pray there.
The
confrontation erupted after Israeli police tried to escort some 20
visitors onto the plaza revered by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and by
Jews as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's walled Old City.
Palestinian youths, who a Reuters photographer said had gathered inside
al Aqsa mosque, ran outside and threw rocks at the group. Israeli
police in riot gear pushed onto the plaza and used stun grenades to
disperse the demonstrators, but did not enter al Aqsa itself.
Tensions at the site run high during Jewish holidays - Jews are now
celebrating Passover - when Palestinians oppose having Jews try to pray
on the compound.
Aware of the
volatile mix of politics and religion, Israel has largely stymied
Jewish prayer on the plaza overlooking Judaism's Western Wall since
capturing East Jerusalem along with the West Bank in the 1967 Middle
East war.
Police routinely
escort foreign and Israeli visitors to the compound and intervene if
they make any attempt to hold prayers at the site, which also houses the
Dome of the Rock, where Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammad ascended
to heaven.
Palestinian concerns have
been heightened, however, by the fact that allies of Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are among the most vocal advocates of Jewish
prayer at the 25-acre complex. A posting on Tuesday on a Palestinian
website, "All must defend al Aqsa", called on Palestinians to "stop the
Zionists" from entering the area during Passover.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld
said that once calm was restored, police forces left the plaza but
closed it temporarily to visitors. He said no arrests were made at the
scene.
Outside the complex,
police fired tear gas at Palestinians who scuffled with them, witnesses
said. The official Palestinian news agency, WAFA, reported that 25
people were treated for gas inhalation, and a medic said a woman was
taken to hospital after being hit by a rubber bullet.
Sovereignty over the compound is at the heart of the Arab-Israeli
conflict. Palestinians want to make East Jerusalem the capital of the
state they aim to establish in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza
Strip.
Israel, citing
historical and biblical links, regards all of Jerusalem as its capital, a
claim that is not recognized internationally.
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