Israeli forces and Palestinians in clashes
Israeli police have clashed with Palestinian protesters outside Jerusalem's Old City during the holiest night of Ramadan in a show of force that threatened to deepen the holy city's worst religious unrest in several years
Israeli police have clashed with Palestinian protesters outside Jerusalem's Old City during the holiest night of Ramadan in a show of force that threatened to deepen the holy city's worst religious unrest in several years.
The clashes come after police blocked busloads of pilgrims headed to Jerusalem for prayer at Islam's third holiest site.
Police defended their actions as security moves, but these were seen as provocations by Muslims who accuse Israel of threatening their freedom of worship.
Competing claims to east Jerusalem, home to major shrines of Judaism, Islam and Christianity, lie at the heart of the Israeli-palestinian conflict and have triggered serious violence in the past.
On Friday, Palestinian medics said more than 200 Palestinians were wounded in clashes at the Al-aqsa mosque compound and elsewhere in Jerusalem.
The violence drew condemnations from Israel's Arab allies and calls for calm from the US, Europe and the United Nations. The Arab League scheduled an emergency meeting on Monday.
Early yesterday, the Israeli military said Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket at the country's south that fell in an open area.
In response, aircraft struck a military post for Hamas, the militant group ruling the territory. There were no reports of casualties in either attack.
Police chief Koby Shabtai said he had deployed more police in Jerusalem following Friday night's clashes, which left 18 police officers wounded.
After weeks of nightly violence, Israelis and Palestinians were bracing for more conflict in the coming days.
Mr Shabtai said: "The right to demonstrate will be respected but public disturbances will be met with force and zero tolerance. I call on everyone to act responsibly and with restraint."
Saturday night was Laylat alqadr, or the Night of Destiny, the most sacred in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Islamic authorities estimated 90,000 people gathered for nighttime prayers at Al-aqsa, the third-holiest site in Islam.
A large crowd of protesters chanted "God is great" outside the Old City's Damascus Gate, and some pelted police with rocks and water bottles.
Police patrols fired stun grenades as they moved through the area, and a police truck periodically fired a water cannon.
Palestinian medics said 64 Palestinians were wounded, mostly by rubber bullets, stun grenades or beatings, among them a woman whose face was bloodied. Eleven people were hospitalised, medics added.
Earlier, police reported clashes in the Old City, near Al-aqsa, and in the nearby east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where dozens of Palestinians are fighting attempts by Israeli settlers to evict them from their homes.
Police reported several arrests, and said one officer was struck in the face with a rock.
Earlier on Saturday, police stopped a convoy of buses that were filled with Arab citizens on the main highway heading to Jerusalem for Ramadan prayers.
Israel's public broadcaster Kan said police stopped the buses for a security check.