Fri Jun 10, 2011 3:51PM
An Israeli policeman is detaining a Palestinian outside the al-Aqsa mosque compound (file photo).
Israeli troops have attacked Palestinian worshippers in al-Aqsa mosque compound, using tear gas and stun guns to disperse the crowd.
An Israeli police spokesman said troops entered the holy site and clashed with Palestinian worshippers after they threw stones at security forces.
The spokesman did not mention how the stone throwing started.
Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, however, says Jewish settlers provoked the incident after they desecrated the compound with the grace of Israeli forces, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.
Three Palestinians were arrested but no injuries were reported during the clashes.
A spokesman for the Islamic authorities running the mosque said only one or two youths had been throwing stones.
The complex, which is the most important religious site in al-Quds (Jerusalem), has been the scene of violent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops during the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces have abducted eight Palestinians, including senior Hamas official Wasfi Qabha, in the West Bank, Palestinian security officials said.
Qabha, who was minister for prisoner affairs in the Hamas government in 2006, was kidnapped from his home in the West Bank city of Jenin early on Friday.
He was kept in Israeli prisons from 2007 until 2010. The Israeli regime has abducted at least 11 Hamas politicians in the West Bank since October last year.
The Israel army confirmed it had made an arrest in Jenin, but refused to provide further details.
HM/AKM