Israeli police, Muslim rioters clash at Jerusalem holy site

~ Israel is building a new walkway, but Palestinians fear they are tunneling under the compound.

JERUSALEM -- Anger over Israeli construction near a disputed Jerusalem holy site erupted into violence Friday as police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse thousands of rioting Muslims. Protests spread in the Arab world, with demonstrators accusing Israel of plotting to harm Islamic shrines.

The clashes began after Friday prayers, when Muslims at the site began throwing rocks at police stationed outside, according to Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben Ruby.

About 200 riot police streamed onto the compound, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount. The officers scuffled with some of the 3,000 Muslim worshippers. Clouds of tear gas rose into the sky and sharp booms pierced the air.

Outside the compound near Lion's Gate, hundreds of teenagers who had been barred from the Al Aqsa mosque hurled stones, iron bars, vegetables and at least one firebomb at police, authorities said. Police responded with stun grenades.

The melee slightly injured 17 protesters and 19 police officers, and 17 rioters were arrested, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Officers shut all the gates leading to the complex, and disconnected loudspeakers that they said were used to incite worshippers.

The compound is home to the golden-capped Dome of the Rock shrine and Al Aqsa mosque and is believed to be the site where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. Jews venerate the compound as the site of their biblical temples, and one of its outer walls -- known as the Western Wall -- is the holiest site in Judaism.

The Israelis say the purpose of the construction project is to build a new walkway leading to the holy site. The walkway would replace a ramp that was damaged in a snowstorm three years ago.

But the Palestinians have expressed fears that the excavations underway are actually attempts to tunnel under the compound.

Israeli officials reject that accusation and say they are not digging under the compound, or even close to it. They insist that the replacement of a ramp would not harm the holy site about 200 feet away.

"We have nothing to hide and yet extremist elements with a hateful agenda have cynically provoked violence by deliberately spreading mistruths about what we're doing," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.

Israeli officials accused Palestinians of distorting the construction project as a way to rally their people against the Jewish state and distract them from other problems.