JERUSALEM, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Jews visited the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem on Sunday to mark the Jewish holy day of Tisha B'Av, despite tensions between Palestinians and Israeli police.
Early in the morning, Israeli police stormed the compound as clashes erupted with Muslim worshippers. A statement issued by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf that manages the site said five Palestinian have been arrested, while the Palestinian Red Crescent reported several injuries among the Palestinians.
An Israeli police spokesman said in a statement that several protesters hurled rocks at police officers who dispersed them to prepare the site for Israelis' visits.
At least 1,300 Jews visited the site in the morning hours, according to the police.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett convened a meeting to assess the security situation at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a site holy to both Muslims and Jews, the latter of whom call it the Temple Mount.
The meeting was attended by Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev and Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai.
"Bennett instructed that the organized and safe visits by Jews to the Temple Mount continue, while maintaining order at the site," said a statement issued by the prime minister's office.
Tisha B'Av is a day on which Jews fast and pray to mark the anniversaries of the destruction of their biblical temples in 586 BC and 70 AD.
Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it shortly later, claiming it part of its "indivisible" capital, in a move unrecognized by most of the international community.
