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A Palestinian youth is evacuated after being injured during clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque on September 13, 2015 (AFP/Ahmad Gharabli)

Palestinians clean up debris inside Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City after clashes at the compound between Palestinians and Israeli police on September 13, 2015, just hours before the start of the Jewish New Year. (AFP/Ahmad Gharabli)
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JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli police clashed with Palestinians at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Sunday just hours before the start of the Jewish New Year, police and witnesses said.

Tensions have been running high at the holy site in the wake of a decision by the Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon last week to outlaw two Muslim groups that seek to "protect" the compound against groups of Jewish worshipers.

Witnesses told Ma'an that Israeli forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound shortly after dawn prayer, firing rubber-coated steel bullets and stun grenades, leading to the injury of several worshipers.

The forces then surrounded worshipers inside Al-Aqsa Mosque itself and closed its doors with "chains and bars" before firing rubber-coated bullets inside the mosque, witnesses said.

Israeli police said that the rioters had barricaded themselves in the mosque overnight with the aim of disrupting visits by Jews to the site ahead of the start of New Year celebrations on Sunday evening.
Aside from the dozens of young men that had spent the night at the compound, Israeli forces had denied all worshipers, except for a small number of men over 50, entry to the holy site.

Israeli police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld told Ma'an that Israeli forces entered the compound at 6:30 a.m. to deal with "disturbances" inside the compound, after which "Palestinians threw fire and fireworks" at the forces, who then closed off the main gates of the mosque.

Israeli forces allegedly found "a number of pipe bombs" at the compound during the raid, which Rosenfeld said he believes would have been used when visitors entered the area later that morning.

The compound opened for visitors as scheduled at 8 a.m., and more than 30 right-wing Israelis toured the compound, including right-wing Israeli Minister of Agriculture Uri Ariel, heavily escorted by Israeli forces.

Israeli forces said no arrests were made and no injuries were reported during the clashes, although Palestinians witnesses reported several injuries.

An AFP journalist saw a number of people being detained and heavy police deployments in the Old City.

A Palestinian boy identified as Anas Siyam was evacuated to the hospital after he was hit with a rubber-coated steel bullet in the chest. His condition is unknown.

Witnesses added that Israeli soldiers also assaulted employees of the Palestinian Ministry of Endowment, including the the director of the compound Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani.

Following the incident, a spokesman for the Fatah movement in Jerusalem, Raafat Ulayyan, urged Palestinians in the West Bank and Israel to "hurry to defend" the holy Muslim site from which "our prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven."

He added in a statement that Muslim and Arab countries should "double their efforts" to defend Al-Aqsa Mosque against an ongoing "process of Judaisation."