WEST BANK: Clashes erupt in Hebron during protest over excavations at Jerusalem shrine.

Palestinian protesters have clashed with Israeli forces in Hebron during a protest over excavations at a Jerusalem shrine. Palestinian protesters and Israeli troops clashed in the town of Hebron on Monday (February 12) during a protest over continued excavations near a holy shrine in Jerusalem. Clashes erupted as several thousands of Palestinians took to the streets of the West Bank city of Hebron to protest over Israeli excavations near al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest shrine. Israeli troops opened fire and threw stun grenades to disperse the crowd as Palestinians hurled stones at the forces. Jerusalem mayor Uri Lupolianski met with the Rabbi in charge of Jerusalem's holy sites Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz and said the decision to postpone the controversial construction will allow for public discussions and address the concerns of Muslim leaders. The decision however does not affect salvage excavations being conducted at the site. Muslim leaders had called for protests over excavations near the holy site and Arab states had asked Israel to halt the work, charging it could undermine the foundations of Al-Aqsa. Israel says the holy places would not be harmed by what it calls an attempt, mandated by law, to salvage artefacts before construction of a pedestrian bridge leading to the holy complex. The al-Aqsa compound, where two biblical temples once stood and Muslims believe Mohammad ascended to heaven, is in Arab East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a step that has not won international recognition.

ITN Source | February 13, 2007

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