Israeli police enter Jerusalem holy site, block Arab youths

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police say they entered a holy Jerusalem site to prevent Arab youths from attacking visiting Jews marking a biblical holiday.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says police received prior warnings that masked Arab youths were barricading themselves inside the al-Aqsa Mosque armed with rocks and fire bombs. Rosenfeld says the youths planned to attack Jews visiting the area Sunday for Tisha B'Av — the Jewish holiday marking the destruction of ancient Hebrew temples.

Rosenfeld says some officers were wounded as they pushed the youths back.

Jews refer to the hilltop site — their holiest — as the Temple Mount. Muslims refer to it as the Noble Sanctuary. It is their third-holiest site, after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. The site is a flashpoint of tension between the faiths.