Clashes Rock Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound for Second Day

At least three Palestinians were detained and an elderly man sustained injuries to his eye during the clashes and was transferred to hospital for treatment, Ma'an News Agency reported on Monday.

An AFP journalist outside the gate saw a Jewish visitor leaving the compound scuffle with Muslims outside.

The clashes come a day after violent confrontations at the holy site on Sunday, during which witnesses said Israeli police entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque itself and caused damage.

Witnesses told Ma'an that Israeli forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound shortly after dawn prayers, firing rubber-coated steel bullets and stun grenades, leading to the injury of several worshipers.

The forces then surrounded worshipers inside Al-Aqsa Mosque and closed its doors with "chains and bars" before firing rubber-coated bullets inside the holy site, witnesses said.

Israeli police said that the rioters had barricaded themselves in the mosque overnight with the aim of disrupting visits by Jews to the site ahead of the start of New Year celebrations on Sunday evening.

The third holiest site in Islam, the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is also venerated as Judaism's most holy place as it sits where Jews believe the First and Second Temples once stood.

Palestinian women runs away as Israeli police throw a stun grenade in Jerusalem's Old City September 13, 2015. REUTERS photo

Following Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967, Israel has maintained an agreement with the Islamic trust that controls the Al-Aqsa compound not to allow non-Muslim prayer in the area.

Jewish prayer is allowed at the neighboring Western Wall, which is the last remnant of the Second Temple.

However, Israeli forces have regularly escorted Jewish visitors to the Al-Aqsa compound, leading to anger among Muslim worshipers.