Police hurled stun grenades and tried to smoke out 150 angry worshippers barricading themselves inside one of Islam's holiest sites on Friday during a clash over Israel's construction plans for the shrine.

Meanwhile, Muslims staged simultaneous protests in Egypt, Lebanon, and the cities of Nazareth and Bethlehem.

Israeli border police prepare to fire tear gas canisters toward Palestinian stonethrowers during clashes in the narrow alleyways of east Jerusalem's Old City on Friday.
(Lefteris Pitarakis/ Associated Press)

The site is sacred to both Jews and Muslims, but outraged protesters scuffled with police to prevent Israeli construction of a new pedestrian bridge, which Muslims said would be a desecration of the compound.

Muslims know the religious site as the Noble Sanctuary, which houses the al-Aqsa mosque, the holiest mosque outside Mecca. But it is also known to Jews as Jerusalem's Temple Mount, connected to the Western Wall, said to be the holiest site in Judaism.

The protesters, who barricaded themselves in the mosque, left after 90 minutes, following negotiations between police and Muslim representatives, police officials said. Outside the mosque though, 200 black-clad riot police clashed with about 3,000 worshipers.

Islamic leaders called for Muslims to protect the hilltop shrine, and in at least one spot near the mosque, hundreds of teenagers hurled stones, iron bars, vegetables and at least one firebomb at police, officials said. Three hours after the fighting broke out, police were still chasing demonstrators through the narrow alleyways and rooftops of the nearby Old City district.

Police said they arrested 17 people. At least 19 officers and 17 protesters were injured, some carried away on stretchers as tensions began to calm in the afternoon.

Witnesses inside the al-Aqsa mosque at the time told CBC News the clashes began almost immediately after their last prayer, when a stun grenade suddenly detonated nearby.

"We were just finishing prayer when a group of men stood up and started expressing their anger about this hill they are digging that is jeopardizing the whole structure of the mosque," said Amer Ahmed, 65.

Plumes of smoke rose from the compound and the echo of stun grenades reverberated throughout the walls of the Old City for almost half an hour, CBC News reported.

'No right to excavate' holy site

Police blocked access to the Old City to Palestinian men under the age of 45 and to Palestinian women from the West Bank under the age of 35.

Muslims throughout the Middle East protested against Israel's construction plans.

Hundreds of Palestinians staged a sit-in at a refugee camp in Lebanon, while clashes between protesters and rioters erupted in Egypt. In the northern Israeli town of Nazareth, about 5,000 marchers took to the streets to protest the construction work.

In Bethlehem, Israeli troops fired rubber bullets into crowds of rioting protesters.

Despite assurances from Israeli authorities that installing a new bridge to replace a centuries-old ramp leading to the compound would not cause damage to the shrine, leaders in the Arab world accused Israel of plotting to intentionally disturb Muslim holy sites.

Speaking to CBC Newsworld, the director of the trust that administers the al-Aqsa mosque said Israeli excavation crews "have no right to excavate" on the site.

"It's a holy place and they should take care about the feelings of others," Adnan Husseini said from Jerusalem.

"It is not right really what they are doing, it is something against the future of the city and the past of the city."

Husseini, who heads the Islamic Wazf that supervises the mosque, also accused Israel of ignoring Palestinian calls for an end to the construction because Israel wanted to pursue its own "agenda."

'No reason whatsoever for such violence'

On the Israeli side, Gideon Avni of the Israeli Antiquities Authority said Israelis were excavating five spots at the compound to safeguard holy artifacts sacred to both Jews and Muslims.

"There is no reason whatsoever for such violence," Avni said, calling the renovations "minor work."

Israeli officials said political extremists were trying to exploit the renovation plans to stoke anger against Israel.

But a prominent Israeli archaeologist has argued against the project, saying it is needless for the ramp to be completely replaced when it could simply be renovated.

Avni countered that the decision to install a new ramp was made not by archaeologists but by engineers after long-term negotiations.

"There is no threat of danger to the outer wall of the sacred compound and as one who is responsible for the safekeeping of antiquities, I can assure you that no damage will be done to this area or the surroundings," he said.

The compound, home to the golden-capped Dome of the Rock shrine and Al-Aqsa mosque, is the third-holiest site for Muslims, who believe that it is where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. For Palestinians and Israeli Arabs, it is also a focal point of national pride.

With files from the Associated Press