Clashes Erupt At Jerusalem Holy Site

Outrage Over Contentious Israeli Renovation Work Near Al-Aqsa Mosque

(CBS/AP)  Hundreds of angry worshippers threw stones at police and scuffled with them on Friday in an eruption of outrage over contentious Israeli renovation work at a disputed holy site in Jerusalem's Old City.

CBS News correspondent Robert Berger reports police threw stun grenades as a few dozen protesters barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa mosque.

About 200 police streamed on to the hilltop compound known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount, to try to quell the violence, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

Several dozen protesters barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa mosque at the compound, which is Islam's third-holiest site.

Live video from the area showed stun grenades landing amid gathered protesters, who scattered as the police moved onto the scene.

It was not immediately clear whether Israeli forces had entered the mosque, a move which would ignite furor across the Muslim world.

Several injured people were seen being taken from the scene on stretchers.

Israeli security forces had tripled their usual numbers around Jerusalem's Old City Friday morning as the city braced for possible riots during Muslim prayers at the Holy Land's most contentious religious site.

Jerusalem police chief Ilan Franco told Israel Radio that around 3,000 security officers were posted around the city because of "intelligence indications" that disturbances could erupt over Israeli repair work on an earthen ramp leading to the hilltop compound.

Israeli authorities promised that the plan to replace a centuries-old ramp damaged in a 2004 snowstorm would not damage the compound, about 60 yards way. But when work began earlier this week, it drew fierce protests in the Arab world, where many leaders accused Israel of plotting to harm Muslim holy sites.

Friday prayers at the site, attended by thousands of Muslims every week, often have been a flashpoint for clashes.

Around 50 Palestinians protesting the work scuffled with police in east Jerusalem ahead of the prayers Friday, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. In the West Bank town of Hebron, teenagers threw stones at soldiers, who responded with tear gas. There were no injuries in either incident.

On Thursday, a fiery Islamic leader appealed to fellow Israeli Arabs and Muslims around the world to rise up against the Israeli renovations.

"The aggression happening now is a tragedy, a crime," Raed Salah, a leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, told The Associated Press. He accused Israel of declaring "a regional, religious war."

Israeli officials have said Muslim radicals are using the renovation work as a pretext to stoke anger against Israel. Speaking during a visit to Spain Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni accused "political extremists" of trying to "exploit this situation."

On Friday, though, a prominent Israeli archeologist weighed in against the project.

Meir Ben-Dov, who has led excavations near the Temple Mount, said the existing ramp should be renovated rather than replaced. The government, he added, lacked the proper construction permits.

"There is no reason to take any action there," Ben-Dov told Israel Radio.

An Israeli government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the construction project, rejected Ben-Dov's claim, saying "all legal issues are being addressed." The new ramp was needed because the old one is unsafe, the official said.

The compound, home to the golden-capped Dome of the Rock shrine and Al Aqsa mosque, is the third-holiest site for Muslims, who believe that it is where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. For Palestinians and Israeli Arabs, it is also a focal point of national pride.

The compound is sacred to Jews as the site of their biblical temples.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said entrance to the Friday prayers would be restricted. West Bank Palestinians would be barred, as would Israeli Arab and east Jerusalem men under 45, he said.

Israel has controlled the compound since the 1967 Mideast War, but has left the administration of its Muslim holy sites largely to the Palestinians and Jordan.

In another major development, Palestinian factions have agreed to a national unity government in which the ruling Islamic militant group Hamas and rival Fatah faction will share power, Berger reports.

Israel has given a cool reaction to the Palestinian agreement, however, saying it must meet three international conditions: recognition of Israel, renunciation of violence and accepting previous peace agreements.

Berger says the new government falls short of that — it says it will "respect" previous peace agreements but there is no mention of recognizing Israel or renouncing violence.