RAMALLAH: Palestinian demonstrators clashed with Israeli troops across the West Bank on Tuesday, while three tourists were lightly wounded by Palestinian stone throwers as tensions remained high following days of violence at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site.

The hilltop compound, revered by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and by Jews as the Temple Mount, was largely quiet Tuesday. About 600 tourists and 100 Israelis visited the site without serious incident.

Israel has barred Muslim men under the age of 50 from entering the compound in recent days to ease tensions.

The site has experienced repeated clashes over the past two weeks as Palestinian protesters barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque while hurling stones, firebombs and fireworks at Israeli police outside.

The compound in Jerusalem’s Old City is a frequent flashpoint and its fate is a core issue at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war, as their future capital.

In Bethlehem, protesters threw rocks and fire bombs, injuring a paramilitary border police officer, it said.

Fatah officials said Tuesday’s demonstrations were meant to protest Israeli actions at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

The clashes occurred a day before Abbas is to address the UN General Assembly.



With the plight of the Palestinians overshadowed this year by the civil war in Syria and the migrant crisis in Europe, Tuesday’s unrest appeared to be an attempt to draw attention back to the conflict.

The protests also appeared to be a veiled warning to Israel.

Despite cool relations, Israel and the Palestinians have maintained close security cooperation to help ease tensions on the ground. But on Tuesday, Palestinian police left their posts and did not prevent marchers from approaching Israeli military checkpoints. In some cases, Palestinian security men even joined the protesters in throwing rocks.

“We can change the security commitments ... and implement only what is good for our people,” Fatah official Hana Amira told the Voice of Palestine radio station.

The unrest comes during the weeklong Jewish festival of Sukkot that celebrates the fall harvest and commemorates the wandering of the ancient Israelites through the desert following their exodus from Egypt. In ancient times, Jews made pilgrimages to Jerusalem on Sukkot, and many Jews are visiting the city this week.

On Tuesday, Palestinians hurled stones at a taxi just outside the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City, lightly wounding two American tourists, police said. In the West Bank city of Hebron, Israeli TV showed a young female tourist holding her head as she was treated by medics and soldiers after she was hit by a rock thrown by Palestinians.

Overnight, Israeli police arrested seven Palestinians it said were involved in the recent violence.