Occupied Jerusalem: Israeli occupation police arrested 16 Palestinians Sunday as they clashed with demonstrators at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Occupied Jerusalem, a sensitive holy site that is frequently the scene of tensions.
“This morning, after the site was opened for visitors and tourists, the suspects threw rocks at the police, wounding two of them,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
After police dispersed the crowd with sound grenades the demonstrators took shelter in the Al Aqsa Mosque, which police are not allowed to enter, he said.
A police statement later said 16 “Arab rioters” had been arrested.
The mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City has over the past week seen clashes between Muslim protesters and Israeli occupation police.
Dozens of Palestinians were wounded Wednesday in clashes with police after Jewish visitors were allowed onto the compound, which is known to Jews as the Temple Mount — the site where the biblical first and second temples are believed by Jews to have stood.
Palestinians have long feared that the Israelis would take over the site, which is under Jordanian custodianship, amid calls from Jewish extremists for the temple to be rebuilt.
Non-Muslims are allowed to visit the site but Jews are barred from praying there. Hardline Jews frequently try to defy the ban, often igniting clashes between rock-throwing Palestinians and police.
Sunday’s clashes came as tens of thousands of pilgrims and tourists flocked to Jerusalem for the Christian Easter holiday and the weeklong Jewish Passover.
Israeli police tightened restrictions on access to the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, limiting entrance to men over the age of 50 and women.
