Palestinians Throw Stones at Police and Jewish Worshipers on Jerusalem's Temple Mount

Muslims at the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem threw stones at Israeli police and Jewish visitors on the Temple Mount Wednesday morning, as Jewish worshipers visiting the Western Wall below prayed hours before the start of the Sukkot holiday, the Feast of Tabernacles.

Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said one police officer was lightly wounded by stones and that two senior officials from the Islamic movement in northern Israel were arrested “for incitement to cause disturbances on the Temple Mount.”

The Dome of the Rock on Jerusalem's Temple Mount (Getty Images)

“The altercation broke out when dozens of youngsters in the mosque began flinging rocks at security forces. Others joined them inside the building, and police prevented them from leaving,” the Times of Israel reported.

The Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported that the unrest began when a Jewish group was allowed to enter the Temple Mount area and Palestinians threw stones at them, then at police. “Dozens of Palestinian worshipers who were in the mosque hurled stones at the group, before being chased by Israeli forces,” Ma’an reported.

According to the Jerusalem Post, police used pepper spray to disperse the rioters.

Jerusalem’s Temple Mount – the holiest site in Judaism - was where both the First and Second Temples once stood and today is the location of the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third-holiest site.

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