Israeli police clashed with stone-throwing Muslim protesters inside Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Wednesday, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said.
"Dozens of masked protesters threw stones and firecrackers at security forces who then entered the Temple Mount and pushed the demonstrators back inside the mosque," the spokeswoman said, using the Jewish term for the compound, which is revered by both faiths.
The clashes quickly spread into the alleys of the surrounding Old City, an AFP correspondent reported.
Near Lions' Gate, one of the seven entrances to the historic heart of annexed Arab east Jerusalem, Israeli police fired tear gas and percussion grenades to disperse a large crowd of angry Palestinians.
Dozens of children on their way to school were caught up in the police action, the correspondent reported.
The clashes came amid continued tensions over right-wing Jewish demands to be able to pray inside the compound and the expansion of Israeli settlement building in east Jerusalem.
