JERUSALEM (JTA) — Masked Arab men rioted on the Temple Mount on the last day of a Muslim holiday and on the eve of Sukkot.
The rioters threw rocks and firecrackers at Israeli police and soldiers on Sunday morning hours after the main Arab-Israeli leadership body, the Arab Monitoring Committee, called on Arab-Israelis to head to the Al-Aqsa mosque to protect it against Jewish visitors.
Police used what they called “riot control measures” to bring the situation under control.
Jews have been barred from the Temple Mount during the three-day Palestinian holy day of Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice. Jews were to be barred from the site on Sunday as well, with no age restrictions placed on Arab-Israeli worshippers. Sukkot, a Jewish holiday, starts on Sunday night.
Right-wing Jewish groups were allegedly to gather at one of the entrances to the Temple Mount for prayers Sunday and then try to enter the site, Ynet reported. Arab protesters reportedly spent Saturday night in Al-Aqsa in order to prevent the Jewish visitors from entering the site the next morning.
The Temple Mount and Jerusalem have seen several violent clashes in recent weeks.
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