Tensions grow in occupied East Jerusalem after Israel
implements new security measures at al-Aqsa compound.
Palestinian worshippers have clashed with Israeli security
forces outside a gate to the Old City in Jerusalem, as tensions continue over
the new security measures implemented at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Israeli security forces were seen dragging a worshipper,
while another police officer appeared to punch a Palestinian man during the
confrontation on Wednesday.
Stun grenades were fired as police forces tried to disperse
the crowd, while several people were seen throwing objects in response, said Al
Jazeera's Harry Fawcett, reporting from the scene of the clashes in East
Jerusalem.
Protest calls grow as Israel tightens grip on al-Aqsa
"We have another [round] of violence here right in
front of al-Aqsa compound. This shows you how sensitive this period is."
Security forces have cleared the area outside al-Aqsa
compound, ordering vehicles out, and the situation have since calmed down, he
said.
The confrontation followed clashes between Israeli security
forces and protesters after evening prayers in the occupied city on Tuesday.
President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party has called for a Day of
Rage after metal detectors and turnstiles were installed at the entrance of
al-Aqsa following Friday's deadly shoot-out that left two Israeli security
officers and three Israeli Palestinians dead.
In another development on Wednesday, Jerusalem's top Muslim
leader called on all of the city's mosques to be closed on Friday in protest
against the new Israeli security measures.
Grand Mufti Muhammad Hussein said Palestinian Muslims should
all gather outside the gates of al-Aqsa Mosque for the weekly Friday prayer.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad - two Palestinian groups - have also
called for protests on Wednesday in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Sheikh Azzam Khatib Tamimi, head of the Waqf, the Islamic
authority in charge of al-Aqsa, said earlier on Wednesday that the authority
had instructed "imams in all the mosques in the city of Jerusalem not to
hold prayers in their mosques and to come to al-Aqsa".
The Waqf indicated in a statement on Wednesday that the longer
Israel delays the removal of the metal detectors, the worse it is going to get.
Palestinians have already been performing prayers outside
the compound in protest since it was reopened on Sunday after a two-day
closure.
Al Jazeera's Fawcett said the protests are not just about
the implementation of the new security measures by Israel.
"This isn't about one isolated installation of a
security measure," he said.
An Israeli police appears to punch a Palestinian man as
clashes continued on Wednesday [AP]
"For Palestinians this is about the fact that Israeli
forces are an occupying force and the potential that Israel is in contravention
of the UN articles guaranteeing freedom of worship, guaranteeing that occupying
forces do not change any part of the status quo within the city."
Also on Wednesday, Israeli authorities closed the compound
to Jewish visitors after what they descrfibed as a violation by some Jewish
individuals who appeared to have prayed at the site, which is forbidden to
non-Muslim worshippers.
Under the status quo, Muslims are given religious control
over the compound and Jews are allowed to visit but not pray there.
READ MORE: Israel's closure of al-Aqsa a 'collective
punishment'
On Friday, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, said
he did not want to alter the status quo, but Palestinians fear Israel is trying
to retake control of the site by stealth.
The site houses the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock
shrine, Islam's third holiest site after Mecca and Medina, as well as the ruins
of the Biblical Jewish Temple.
