JERUSALEM: Muslims and Israeli police clashed at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al Aqsa mosque compound for a second straight day on Monday as Jews celebrated their new year and protesters vowed to protect Islam’s third-holiest site.

As they had the day before, Israeli security forces entered the compound early on Monday to prevent Muslim youths from harassing visiting Jews, police said.

Clashes then broke out on the hilltop complex, with booms heard from outside its gates. Muslims have barricaded themselves inside Al Aqsa amid protests over access to the site, venerated by Jews as the Temple Mount.

“As the police entered the compound, masked youths fled inside the mosque and threw stones at the force,” a police statement said.

Police said that five protesters were arrested in the compound and visits went ahead as planned.

Another four were arrested in skirmishes between security forces and protesters in the surrounding alleys of Jerusalem’s Old City.

Police fired stun grenades while hitting and kicking demonstrators and journalists as they sought to push back crowds.

Muslim protesters fear Israel will seek to change rules governing the site, with far-right Jewish groups pushing for more access to the compound and even efforts by fringe organisations to erect a new temple.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the status quo will be preserved at the sensitive site, but suspicions remain among Palestinians, a sign of the deep mistrust between the two sides.

Non-Muslims are allowed to visit the compound, but Jews must not pray or display national symbols for fear of triggering tensions with Muslim worshippers.

“We are worried about Al Aqsa because Israel wants to empty it and then all Jerusalem of the Muslims,” Sanaa Rajabi, among dozens of women protesting outside the gates of the Al Aqsa compound, said.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2015

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