Israeli police entered a controversial holy site in Jerusalem and clashed with Palestinians there on Friday, said an Israeli police spokesman.
Several hundreds of police officers entered the Temple Mount compound, which was known by Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary, after Palestinian youths threw stones at Jewish prayers from the hilltop, said Micky Rosenfeld, spokesman for Israel Police.
The Palestinian young men responded to the police entry by hurling stones at them. Security forces used stun grenades and other means to disperse the crowd.
Fifteen police officers were lightly wounded, and four Palestinians were arrested, Rosenfeld told Xinhua. The Bethlehem- based Maan News Agency reported that 60 Palestinians were injured, among which a woman was in serious condition.
An official of the Waqf, the Islamic trust which controls the place’s day-to-day management, told local daily Ha’aretz that the collision followed a mosque sermon in the compound focusing on Islamic sites being targeted by Israel and the need to preserve them.
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