Israeli police firing stun grenades faced off Oct. 25 against masked Palestinian protesters hurling stones and plastic chairs outside the Temple Mount, the Holy Land’s most volatile shrine, where past violence has escalated into prolonged conflict.

A wall of Israeli riot police behind Plexiglas shields marched toward young men covering their faces with T-shirts and scarves, sending many of them running for cover into the Al-Aqsa mosque, one of the Islamic structures in the compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.

They remained holed up in the mosque with police outside for several hours until dispersing before nightfall. Eighteen protesters were arrested, and no serious injuries were reported.

The disturbances were rooted in calls from Muslim leaders for their followers to protect the Islamic sites from what they said were Israeli plots to damage them or let Jews pray in the compound. There was no evidence to support either claim. — ap