Palestinians and Israeli security forces clashed in Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound and the surrounding Old City for a third straight day on Tuesday despite international calls for calm.
Young demonstrators gathered around the mosque threw stones at police who had entered the compound in large numbers and responded with stun grenades.
Police said they cleared debris from the entrance of the mosque and closed the door on those inside who had been throwing stones, fireworks and other objects at security forces.
The Jordanian-run Waqf organisation which administers the site said that police entered deep inside the mosque and caused damage.
Amman said Israel's actions amount to "aggression" against Arab and Muslim nations, and said it was examining legal and diplomatic means to protect religious sites in the Holy City.
Jordan has custodianship rights over Muslim holy places in Jerusalem under its 1994 peace treaty with Israel.
The new flare-up came despite calls for restraint from the United Nations, United States and European Union.
UN special envoy for the Middle East peace process Nickolay Mladenov warned that "provocations" at the site could lead to unrest elsewhere in the Middle East.
"As the Middle East faces a vicious tide of terror and extremism, such serious provocations have the potential to ignite violence well beyond the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem," Mladenov said.
The protesters fear Israel is seeking to change rules governing the site which allow Jews to visit but not pray, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the status quo will be preserved.
The site, Islam's third-holiest, is also venerated by Jews as the Temple Mount.
Israeli police said youths barricaded themselves inside the mosque overnight as they had over the two previous days with the aim of disrupting visits by Jews to the compound.
Masked protesters threw stones towards the gate when regular visits began on Tuesday morning, police said.
After security forces entered the compound, "masked assailants fled inside the mosque and began throwing dozens of stones" and other objects, including fireworks, police said.
There were at least four arrests, while clashes also broke out in the Old City surrounding the compound. Limited visits to the site were later allowed.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said 26 people were wounded, with two hospitalised. Israeli police said five officers were lightly injured.
- Old City clashes -
Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said security forces shut the door on protesters inside the mosque in a tactic previously used to restore calm.
Such incidents in the past have seen police briefly enter the mosque to close the door.
"Police forces did not penetrate into the interior of Al-Aqsa mosque," Samri said in a statement.
Waqf spokesman Firas al-Dibs said "police stormed the Al-Aqsa mosque and went inside" as far as the minbar, or imam's pulpit.
He said police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades that caused fires.
Palestinian leaders meeting in Ramallah in the West Bank called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting while denouncing what they said was a plan to change the site's status.
Clashes in the Old City appeared to be more intense than over the previous two days. Police fired stun grenades to push back protesters who threw stones and yelled: "We will never give up because Mohammed is our leader."
"The real owners of Al-Aqsa are kept outside while the thieves are inside," said a 42-year-old Arab woman who said she came from Nazareth to protest, adding that she feared Israel aimed to allow Jewish worship at the compound.
The three days of clashes came as Jews celebrated their new year, or Rosh Hashanah, which began on Sunday evening and ended on Tuesday evening.
A drive by far-right Jewish groups for greater access to the mosque compound and a fringe campaign to erect a new temple have fuelled suspicions among Palestinians.
Protesters have also been angered by Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon's decision last week to outlaw two Muslim groups that confront Jewish visitors to the compound.
Israel seized east Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.
Later on Tuesday, Netanyahu is to hold an "emergency meeting" of members of his cabinet involved with security to discuss ways of responding to recent incidents of stone-throwing by Palestinians in and around Jerusalem.
Police said on Monday that stone-throwing may have caused a car crash that killed an Israeli motorist near a Palestinian neighbourhood of Jerusalem.
Palestinians and Israeli security forces clashed in Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound and the surrounding Old City for a third straight day on Tuesday despite international calls for calm.
Young demonstrators gathered around the mosque threw stones at police who had entered the compound in large numbers and responded with stun grenades.
Police said they cleared debris from the entrance of the mosque and closed the door on those inside who had been throwing stones, fireworks and other objects at security forces.
The Jordanian-run Waqf organisation which administers the site said that police entered deep inside the mosque and caused damage.
Amman said Israel’s actions amount to “aggression” against Arab and Muslim nations, and said it was examining legal and diplomatic means to protect religious sites in the Holy City.
Jordan has custodianship rights over Muslim holy places in Jerusalem under its 1994 peace treaty with Israel.
The new flare-up came despite calls for restraint from the United Nations, United States and European Union.
UN special envoy for the Middle East peace process Nickolay Mladenov warned that “provocations” at the site could lead to unrest elsewhere in the Middle East.
“As the Middle East faces a vicious tide of terror and extremism, such serious provocations have the potential to ignite violence well beyond the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem,” Mladenov said.
The protesters fear Israel is seeking to change rules governing the site which allow Jews to visit but not pray, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the status quo will be preserved.
The site, Islam’s third-holiest, is also venerated by Jews as the Temple Mount.
Israeli police said youths barricaded themselves inside the mosque overnight as they had over the two previous days with the aim of disrupting visits by Jews to the compound.
Masked protesters threw stones towards the gate when regular visits began on Tuesday morning, police said.
After security forces entered the compound, “masked assailants fled inside the mosque and began throwing dozens of stones” and other objects, including fireworks, police said.
There were at least four arrests, while clashes also broke out in the Old City surrounding the compound. Limited visits to the site were later allowed.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said 26 people were wounded, with two hospitalised. Israeli police said five officers were lightly injured.
– Old City clashes –
Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said security forces shut the door on protesters inside the mosque in a tactic previously used to restore calm.
Such incidents in the past have seen police briefly enter the mosque to close the door.
“Police forces did not penetrate into the interior of Al-Aqsa mosque,” Samri said in a statement.
Waqf spokesman Firas al-Dibs said “police stormed the Al-Aqsa mosque and went inside” as far as the minbar, or imam’s pulpit.
He said police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades that caused fires.
Palestinian leaders meeting in Ramallah in the West Bank called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting while denouncing what they said was a plan to change the site’s status.
Clashes in the Old City appeared to be more intense than over the previous two days. Police fired stun grenades to push back protesters who threw stones and yelled: “We will never give up because Mohammed is our leader.”
“The real owners of Al-Aqsa are kept outside while the thieves are inside,” said a 42-year-old Arab woman who said she came from Nazareth to protest, adding that she feared Israel aimed to allow Jewish worship at the compound.
The three days of clashes came as Jews celebrated their new year, or Rosh Hashanah, which began on Sunday evening and ended on Tuesday evening.
A drive by far-right Jewish groups for greater access to the mosque compound and a fringe campaign to erect a new temple have fuelled suspicions among Palestinians.
Protesters have also been angered by Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon’s decision last week to outlaw two Muslim groups that confront Jewish visitors to the compound.
Israel seized east Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.
Later on Tuesday, Netanyahu is to hold an “emergency meeting” of members of his cabinet involved with security to discuss ways of responding to recent incidents of stone-throwing by Palestinians in and around Jerusalem.
Police said on Monday that stone-throwing may have caused a car crash that killed an Israeli motorist near a Palestinian neighbourhood of Jerusalem.
