Violence flares at Jerusalem holy site

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli police entered the compound housing al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on Sunday after Palestinians threw stones at visitors at the most sensitive holy place in the city.

The confrontation added to tension running high after Israel's announcement of a plan to include religious sites in the West Bank in a Jewish heritage plan.

Witnesses said the violence began after Palestinians threw rocks at visitors touring the site. Palestinian officials said word had spread that religious Jews planned to enter the compound, which is also home to the Dome of the Rock.

Judaism's Western Wall, a Jewish prayer site revered as the remains of a perimeter wall of the second biblical Temple, sits just below the compound.

Israeli police arrested seven Palestinians and four policemen were injured by rocks, spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Palestinian medical sources said three Palestinians had been taken to hospital with injuries caused by rubber bullets.

Others were being treated for tear gas inhalation.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat accused Israel of exacerbating tensions on purpose to undermine U.S. efforts to broker a resumption of peace talks.

"The message is very, very clear: they are trying to sabotage all efforts to revive peace," he told Reuters.

Israel and the United States have called on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to begin talks immediately. Abbas says there must be a total halt to Israeli settlement expansion first.

The Palestinians aim to establish a state with East Jerusalem, including the walled Old City, as its capital. Israel considers all of Jerusalem its eternal and indivisible capital, a claim not recognized internationally.

RESPONSIBILITY

Mohammad Hussein, the mufti of Jerusalem, said in a statement Israeli authorities would bear responsibility for the consequences of what he described as the "storming" of the site by "extremist groups."

Israeli police said around 1,000 tourists had visited the site in the morning.

Adnan al-Husseini, the Palestinian-appointed governor of Jerusalem, said Palestinian youths had spent the night at the al-Aqsa compound out of concern religious Jews were planning to enter the area.

An Israeli police spokesman said the police, who do not usually enter the compound, had gone into the site when about 20 Palestinians threw stones. The spokesman said the protesters had taken cover in the mosque, which Israeli police do not enter.

The second Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, erupted in 2000 after a visit by then-Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the compound, known by Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif.

There have been several days of clashes in the West Bank town of Hebron, home to a holy site Israel said it intends to include in a plan to refurbish holy sites.

The Israeli plan also includes a site near the West Bank town of Bethlehem. Witnesses said four Palestinians were shot by Israeli soldiers near the town on Saturday after their car was stopped for inspection. Medics who were treating the casualties said one of them was seriously wounded.

An Israeli military spokesman said soldiers had opened fire in response to stone-throwing at them, striking a vehicle, and that the incident was under investigation.

(Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan and Tom Perry; Editing by Janet Lawrence)