Jerusalem - The main prayer session at
Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque ended more quietly on Friday than
expected with Israel setting an age limit on who could attend
after two weeks of violent protests over tougher Israeli
security measures.
Extra police stood guard throughout the walled Old City,
some wearing riot gear, some on horseback, in anticipation of
mass protests. But aside from a few hotspots where Palestinian
protestors briefly clashed with Israeli officers, serious
violence did not recur.
Throughout Friday Israel limited entry to the mosque
compound, a raised marble-and-stone plaza referred to by Muslims
as the Noble Sanctuary and by Jews as the Temple Mount, to men
over the age of 50. Women of all ages were allowed in.
Tensions soared at the venue, often erupting into fierce
clashes, after two Israeli police officers were shot dead on
July 14 by gunmen who had hidden weapons inside the Aqsa
compound, prompting Israel to install metal detectors at the
entrance to the site. A Muslim boycott ensued.
Under immense diplomatic pressure Israel removed the metal
detectors on Thursday, a move welcomed by the Arab world, but
disturbances quickly resumed when thousands of Muslim
worshippers surged back into the mosque.
Palestinians pray outside Jerusalem's Old City on Friday. Picture: Mahmoud Illean/AP
A few thousand people made their way to Al-Aqsa for Friday
prayers, police said, while a younger crowd remained outside and
worshipped in narrow side streets. When the prayer session ended
those congregated left the area peacefully, for the most part.
Television footage showed some brief confrontations
involving a group of Palestinians, a number of them throwing
bottles, and police dispersing them with stun grenades.
Israel captured East Jerusalem, including the Old City and
the holy compound, in the 1967 Middle East war. It annexed the
area in a move that has never been recognised internationally.
Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest shrine, sits on a
tree-lined plateau in the heart of the Old City. It is also the
holiest place in Judaism - the venue of two ancient temples, the
last destroyed by the Romans. Jews pray under heavy security at
the Western Wall at the foot of the elevated plaza.
The dispute, like many in the Holy Land, is about more than
security devices, taking in issues of sovereignty, religious
freedom, occupation and Palestinian nationalism.
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, a Palestinian armed with
a knife charged at Israeli soldiers and was shot dead, the
military said.