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Al-Aqsa mosque compound: Jerusalem's flashpoint holy site

The third-holiest site in Islam, situated next to the holiest site accessible to Jewish worshippers, the Al-Aqsa mosque complex is a powder keg where the slightest incidents can degenerate into sometimes deadly clashes
— Paris (AFP)

The Al-Aqsa mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, is a site sacred to both Islam and Judaism in the Old City of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem that has long been a lightning rod in Israeli-Palestinian relations.

On Wednesday, Israeli riot police stormed the mosque to dislodge what it called Palestinian "agitators" who barricaded themselves inside after the last prayers of the day with fireworks, sticks and stones.

The clashes at the site, which is the third-holiest in Islam and the holiest in Judaism, came after Jewish radicals called for animals to be sacrificed in the compound to mark the Jewish Passover holiday.

- Prophet's night journey -

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