Israel have been enforcing a unilateral temporal division on the mosque; banning Palestinians from entering the compound during specific hours, while settlers are provided with a police escort into the Islamic holy site.
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Police have used stun grenades and rubber bullets against the Palestinians, with an Al Jazeera correspondent at the scene reporting: “It doesn’t appear as if the clashes went far beyond the gate where police entered, nor are there reports of any injuries.”
The confrontations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque come at a very tense time.
Police initially restricted access to some Muslim worshipers, but later eased the order after several days of calm at the holy site.
Al-Aqsa is Islam’s third holiest site after Saudi Arabia’s Makkah and Medina. “The force pushed back the rioters using anti-riot means”.
Recent clashes at the site were triggered by a police raid at the mosque in the run-up to the Jewish new year festival of Rosh Hashanah that turned up pipe bombs, stockpiles of rocks and firecrackers as well as a barricade at an entrance to the al-Aqsa Mosque.
In Sunday’s unrest, dozens of Palestinians entered the compound overnight and early in the morning, fearing that large numbers of Jews would visit because of the Jewish holiday.
Sunday marked the last day of Eid al-Adha, or Feast of the Sacrifice, and the eve of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, or Feast of Tabernacles, when some religious Jews traditionally ascend to the site, considered the holiest in Judaism.
The site, known as the Temple Mount to Jews and the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims, had experienced several days of unrest in recent weeks.
However, Palestinians became agitated after Israeli police tried to give Jewish activists the opportunity to tour the grounds of the compound. Under a longstanding arrangement, Jews are allowed to visit the compound, but not pray there, while Jordan retains custodial rights.
On September 18, several people were injured in Jerusalem as Palestinians staged a “Day of Rage” to protest new Israeli security measures.
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While violence in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem has not approached the levels of past Palestinian uprisings, there has been a surge of Palestinian stone-throwing.
