Last update - 14:26 28/07/2006
Police clash with Arab youths trying to access Temple Mount
By Avi Issacharoff and Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondents, and agencies

Israeli police used stun grenades to disperse hundreds of Arab youths who were trying to gain access to the Temple Mount for Friday prayers, police said. No injuries were reported.

Police on Thursday restricted entry to Jerusalem's Temple Mount to Palestinians under the age of 40 after it received information that a protest was scheduled to take place on its premises after Friday prayers.

Demonstrators were said to have planned an event including 70 wedding ceremonies and a rally against Israel's offensive in Lebanon.

Police sources said after deciding to limit entry to the shrine that the Temple Mount is a place of worship and not a stage on which to mount political protests.

Security forces have taken up positions around the Temple Mount and inside Jerusalem's Old City ahead of prayers scheduled for Friday in order to disperse crowds.

The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam.

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