Israel Police Restore Calm on the Temple Mount

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Masked Palestinian Arab protesters injured three Israeli police officers on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City on Wednesday morning.

Rioters threw rocks and incendiary devices at police monitoring the Mughrabi Gate, the sole entrance for non-Muslims to the Temple Mount.

With Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles) beginning Wednesday evening, police opened the area to Israelis and tourists desiring to visit the Temple Mount during the holiday.

Officers succeeded in quelling the violence as rioters ran back inside the al-Aksa mosque, where many reportedly live and plan frequent disturbances. Police dismantled a makeshift barrier erected in front of the mosque.

The Jerusalem Post reported that rioters doused objects with flammable material in front of the mosque and threw bricks, rocks from inside, shot "fireworks" and sprayed something that made it difficult to breathe. The rioters tried but did not succeed in igniting the flammable objects.

The Temple Mount, where the first and second Jewish Temples stood, is Judaism's holiest site. Jews were forbidden to visit the site or to pray at the Western Wall below during the Jordanian occupation, which lasted from Israel's rebirth in 1948 until the 1967 Six Day War, when the nation's capital was reunited under Israeli sovereignty.

Police spokesman Micky Rosefeld said security forces, including hundreds of undercover police, will "enable thousands of visitors to visit in safety."

"There will be an increased police presence throughout east Jerusalem, Damascus Gate and Jaffa Gate to ensure no disturbances take place," Rosenfeld said.

The Temple Mount is the third holiest site in Islam and a frequent flashpoint by Arab rioters.