Jerusalem // Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al Aqsa mosque compound will be closed to non-Muslim visitors until next week — the end of the holy month of Ramadan, Israeli authorities announced yesterday.
Clashes between Muslims and Israeli police have been taking place every morning since Sunday over Jewish visits to the site, with Palestinian youths throwing stones and security forces firing tear gas and sponge-tipped bullets.
Palestinian officials have accused Israeli authorities of breaking a tacit agreement on non-Muslim access to the site during the last 10 days of Ramadan.
The period, which began on Sunday, is the most solemn for Muslims and attracts the highest number of worshippers.
Non-Muslims are allowed to visit the site during set hours but are barred from praying to avoid provoking tensions.
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said rocks and other objects were hurled toward police forces and Jewish worshippers in a nearby plaza. He said a 73-year-old woman was lightly wounded and police arrested 16 suspects in the disturbances.
As a result, police decided to close access to Jewish worshippers and other visitors for the remainder of the week to prevent tensions with Muslim worshippers until Ramadan is over.
Throughout the week Palestinians have holed themselves up in the Al Aqsa mosque atop the mount and reportedly attacked officers with fireworks and other objects.
The mosque is part of a compound sacred to both Muslims and Jews.
Muslims refer to it as the Noble Sanctuary, where they believe the Prophet Mohammad embarked on a night journey to heaven, while Jews refer to it as the Temple Mount, where the two Jewish temples stood in biblical times.
It is located in east Jerusalem, occupied by Israel in 1967 and later annexed in a move never recognised by the international community.
Violence had erupted at the site in mid-September before spreading elsewhere.
The violence since October has killed about 200 Palestinians, who have been identified by Israel as attackers that have carried out dozens of attacks, including stabbings, shootings and car ramming assaults.
Thirty-two Israelis and two visiting Americans have died in the unrest, which has led to renewed calls for peace talks, which last broke down more than two years ago.
* Agence France-Presse and Associated Press