JERUSALEM — Israeli police entered the Temple Mount to disperse dozens of Palestinian youths, who threw rocks and firecrackers at security forces.
Some 50 protesters had slept at the Temple Mount overnight Feb. 24-25 in advance of a Knesset debate scheduled for Feb. 25 on extending Israeli sovereignty over the site that is holy to both Jews and Palestinians. The debate was initiated by Likud lawmaker Moshe Feiglin. A vote is unlikely to take place.
Three of the Palestinian rioters were arrested, and two policemen were hurt in the Feb. 25 morning confrontation.
The Temple Mount is the third holiest site for Palestinians and the holiest site for Jews, who believe that the site of the Dome of the Rock mosque is where the holiest area of the two Temples was situated.
The site is overseen by the Muslim Wakf, the Muslim religious administration charged with managing the Temple Mount site. Jews generally are not permitted by the Wakf to pray or bring any ritual objects to the Temple Mount.