Israeli police mass in Jerusalem after clashes

Police massed in Jerusalem's Old City on Monday following clashes with Palestinians near al-Aqsa mosque compound and as tens of thousands of Jews were expected to attend a religious ceremony.

Authorities restricted access to the compound to Muslim men aged 50 and over, with no restrictions for women, after Sunday's clashes in which seven Palestinian protesters were injured and three arrested.

Thousands of security officers deployed in and around the Old City, particularly in the vicinity of the compound which is holy to both Muslims and Jews, and the Western Wall, the main Jewish pilgrimage site also known as the Wailing Wall.

Israeli police and Palestinian protesters on Sunday clashed near the mosque compound, a flashpoint site sacred to Muslims and Jews that saw similar unrest a week ago.

The altercation occurred after Israeli authorities closed the holy site in and 150 to 200 people gathered to pray outside the Lion's Gate, which leads into the compound, police and witnesses said.

The clashes erupted shortly afterwards, with worshippers throwing stones and security forces hurling stun grenades and firing a water cannon, according to witnesses.

Medics said seven people were wounded and police said three were arrested.

Such actions are illegal and illegitimate and violate Israel's commitments as an occupying force and threaten the peace process

Jordanian Foreign Ministry statement

Jordan 's reaction

Jordan meanwhile on Sunday summoned Israel's ambassador in Amman to demand a halt to "repeated violations" by the Jewish state at al-Aqsa mosque compound, the foreign ministry said.

"Such actions are illegal and illegitimate and violate Israel's commitments as an occupying force and threaten the peace process," it said in a statement.

The Old City remained calm but tense hours after the clashes, with dozens of Israeli law enforcement personnel deployed throughout the narrow streets of the city, holy to the world's three main monotheistic faiths.

Police said they had closed access to al-Aqsa compound, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) and to Jews as the Temple Mount, after mosque loudspeakers in the Old City urged people to gather there.

"We closed the access to the Temple Mount following incitation to violence over (mosque) loudspeakers," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.

Adnan al-Husseini, the Palestinian-appointed governor of Jerusalem, said Israeli police had denied entry to the compound where the al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock shrine are located, though some worshippers had been there overnight.

We closed the access to the Temple Mount following incitation to violence over loudspeakers

Micky Rosenfeld, police spokesman

An Israeli police spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld, said the compound had been "shut to visitors" as a precaution to avoid violence. Israel eased these restrictions later on when the situation calmed down, Rosenfeld said.

Israel also detained Hatem Abdel Qader, a member of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party in Jerusalem, on suspicion he was trying to incite protests at the site.

Qader was released hours later following a court hearing. Israeli police said the court ordered him to stay away from Jerusalem's Old City for 15 days.

Jewish festival of Sukkot

Witnesses said the call followed rumors that Israeli authorities were going to allow Jewish settlers to enter the compound during the current Jewish festival of Sukkot.

"They want to keep us away so they can impose their will and allow settlers to enter al-Aqsa," Yusuf Mukheimar, one of the organizers of Sunday's prayer, told AFP.

Overnight, a group of several dozen Palestinians entered the mosque compound to confront any such visits by Jewish extremists, witnesses said.

The Islamist Hamas movement ruling the Gaza Strip meanwhile lashed out at Israel over the clashes, saying "the leaders of the occupation will bear the dangerous consequences of any escalation."

They want to keep us away so they can impose their will and allow settlers to enter al-Aqsa

Yusuf Mukheimar, an organizer of Sunday prayer

"The continuation of these Zionist plots against al-Aqsa mosque and Jerusalem is a fuse that could ignite the entire region," the group's parliamentary bloc said in a statement.

The Palestinian Authority issued a statement urging the international community to "immediately intervene and bring the question of al-Aqsa mosque before the United Nations Security Council."

One week ago several people were wounded in unrest that erupted after a group of tourists entered the mosque compound. Police said the group was made up of French tourists, but the Palestinians insisted they were Israeli extremists.

The site of the mosque compound is the holiest in Judaism and third-holiest in Islam, and has often been the flashpoint of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

The continuation of these Zionist plots against al-Aqsa mosque and Jerusalem is a fuse that could ignite the entire region

Hamas statement