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Muslims at the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem threw stones at Israeli police and Jewish visitors on the Temple Mount Wednesday morning, as Jewish worshipers visiting the Western Wall.
Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said one police officer was lightly wounded by stones and that two senior officials from the Islamic movement in northern Israel were arrested "for incitement to cause disturbances on the Temple Mount."
Palestinians Throw Stones at Police and Jewish Worshipers on Jerusalems Temple Mount
The Dome of the Rock on Jerusalem's Temple Mount
"The altercation broke out when dozens of youngsters in the mosque began flinging rocks at security forces. Others joined them inside the building, and police prevented them from leaving," the Times of Israel reported.
The Palestinian Ma'an news agency reported that the unrest began when a Jewish group was allowed to enter the Temple Mount area and Palestinians threw stones at them, then at police. "Dozens of Palestinian worshipers who were in the mosque hurled stones at the group, before being chased by Israeli forces," Ma'an reported.
According to the Jerusalem Post, police used pepper spray to disperse the rioters.
Jerusalem's Temple Mount -- the holiest site in Judaism -- was where both the First and Second Temples once stood and today is the location of the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third-holiest site.
Ismail Radwan, Minister of Religious Affairs in Gaza's Hamas government, claims that Israel is trying to cause an artificial earthquake to totally collapse the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. According to Radwan, Israel is attempting to do so to establish the Third Temple.
The comments came at an event organized by female students of the College for Professional Applied Sciences. In response to the supposed "earthquake attack," Radwan called for a general national enlistment to the military, and to support the mosque by having fixed presence at the site.
Radwan said through repeated Jewish access to the Temple Mount, as well as "excavations and criminal acts," the Israeli "occupation" has "arrived at the stage of accustoming Palestinians, Arabs and Muslim to accept the existing reality so as to implement their goals to destroy the mosque and build the supposed Temple."
The minister blamed peace talks and security arrangements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) as providing cover for the "criminal acts" on the Temple Mount.
Regardless of Hamas's fantastic scenarios, Israel is facing a real earthquake danger. In October, the Home Front Minister MK Gilad Erdan (Likud) warned that a major earthquake is looming that could potentially kill 7,000 Israelis.