{Clashes broke out in and around Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Wednesday just hours before the start of the Jewish New Year holiday.}<\/p>\n
Police spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP that Palestinian youths had thrown stones and petrol bombs at police, injuring several, who had “pushed the rioters inside the Al-Aqsa mosque”.<\/p>\n
Police also blocked all access to the compound, which lies in the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City, to prevent the unrest from spreading.<\/p>\n
The clashes were apparently triggered by the early-morning visit to the site by a group of Jewish visitors ahead of the start of the two-day Rosh Hashana holiday, which begins at sundown.<\/p>\n
Two of them were arrested for violating an order barring Jews from praying at the site, she said.<\/p>\n
Near the compound, police were seen throwing sound bombs at a small crowd of Palestinians waiting just outside Lion’s Gate, one of the entrances to the Old City.<\/p>\n
One policeman suffered head injuries in the scuffle.<\/p>\n
Occasional bangs of sound bombs could be heard coming from the esplanade.<\/p>\n
The Al-Aqsa compound is the scene of frequent clashes, usually between Palestinians and Israeli police.<\/p>\n
It houses the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, and is revered by Jews as the location of the biblical Jewish temples, considered Judaism’s holiest place.<\/p>\n
Security forces regularly impose an age limit on worshippers attending Muslim weekly prayers on Fridays, keeping out men under the age of 50.<\/p>\n
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 and unrest.<\/p>\n
The Old City and wider Israeli-annexed Arab east Jerusalem have been the scene of regular, violent clashes since the murder of a Palestinian teenager by Jewish extremists in July.<\/p>\n
Clashes intensified during a 50-day war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, but even after conflict ended on August 26, they continued to happen.<\/p>\n
On September 7, 16-year-old Mohammed Sinokrot died from injuries sustained when he was shot by Israeli border police in east Jerusalem, bringing thousands of angry demonstrators on to the streets.<\/p>\n
Agencies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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