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Photo: Mahmoud Illean/AP
Clashes erupted again on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Sunday.
Ahead of planned visits by Jewish worshipers to the holy site, hundreds of young Muslims erected obstacles with stones and iron bars to block access, Israeli police said.
According to media reports, there were clashes between police forces and Palestinians at the facility, and several of the Palestinians were injured.
The Israeli police finally cleared the area in front of the mosque early Sunday.
According to a statement, the aim is to enable Jews and Muslims to exercise their religion freely.
Dozens of Palestinians stayed inside the building and chanted "God is Greatest."
Ten people are said to have been injured during the evacuation.
The tensions are currently particularly high because this year Ramadan, the Jewish Passover festival and the Christian Easter coincide.
The Temple Mount (Al-Haram al-Sharif) with the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam.
But it is also sacred to Jews because there used to be two Jewish temples there.
The Jews are currently celebrating the Passover holiday.
One of the customs is a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
The Temple Mount is also just a few minutes' walk from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christians celebrated Easter mass on Sunday mornings.
It is under Muslim administration while Israel is responsible for security.
According to an agreement with the Muslim authorities, Jews are allowed to visit the facility, but not to pray there.
Provocation: Animal sacrifices for Passover in front of the Al-Aqsa Mosque
In recent years, larger groups of religious Jews accompanied by police have repeatedly visited the holy site, which the Palestinians perceive as a provocation.
The latter fear that Israel is planning to take over the Al-Aqsa Mosque site or at least to divide the site.
A radical Jewish group, ahead of the holiday, called for animals to be brought onto the mosque grounds to be sacrificed on Passover.
Palestinians then called on social media to prevent this by all means.
There were also clashes in other parts of the city on Sunday morning.
In eastern Jerusalem, Palestinians threw stones at several buses carrying Jewish visitors.
According to the police, some passengers suffered minor injuries.
Two suspects were arrested.
Already on Friday there were numerous injuries in clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces on the Temple Mount.
The clashes further intensified tensions after a wave of terror in recent weeks.
Last year, clashes around the Al-Aqsa Mosque led to days of heavy fighting between the radical Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Israeli security forces.
sug/dpa/AP
