Israeli police clash with Muslim worshippers at Jerusalem holy site

Israeli police have clashed with Muslim worshippers at a major Jerusalem holy site during prayers to mark the Eid al-Adha holiday.

Palestinian medics said at least 14 people has been wounded, one seriously, in the skirmishes at the site, which Muslims refer to as the al-Aqsa mosque and Jews as the Temple Mount. Police said at least four officers had been wounded.

Officers fired teargas, stun grenades and rubber bullets in the worst violence at the contested site in months. Witnesses said at least two people had been arrested.

The clashes come at a time of heightened tensions between Israel and Palestine, just days after an Israeli soldier was killed south of Jerusalem. Israeli troops killed four Palestinians who the army said had attempted to cross the Gaza border on Saturday.

Tens of thousands of Muslims had gathered at the site in Jerusalem’s Old City early on Sunday for holiday prayers, police said. Jews were also observing the Ninth of Av on Sunday, a day of fasting and mourning for the destruction of the two Biblical temples that stood at the site in antiquity.

The site is the holiest for Jews and the third holiest for Muslims after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, and has long been a flashpoint and major point of contention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.