Hundreds of Palestinians hurled rocks at Israel Defense Forces soldiers in the West Bank after the army blocked them from attending Friday prayers at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, witnesses said. Israel restricted Palestinian access to Jerusalem to men older than 50 and women over 45, angering would-be worshipers eager to reach Islam's third holiest shrine for prayers on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
One Palestinian was injured when he was struck on the head by a tear-gas grenade fired by soldiers trying to disperse a crowd at the Kalandia crossing, which leads to the city of Ramallah where the Western-backed government of President Mahmoud Abbas is based.
Israeli police said some 90,000 worshipers attended prayers at al-Aqsa, which sits on the complex in the walled Old City known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif.
Palestinian access to Jerusalem is already limited because Israel requires those who live in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to obtain hard-to-get permits. Palestinian officials have demanded that Israel provide open access for worshipers.