Israeli police clashed with Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem’s Old City, the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank yesterday, reflecting growing tensions over an increase in Jewish visits to the al-Aqsa mosque.

Palestinian militants and youth groups have called for a general uprising in response to the entry by Jewish groups under police escort to the Jerusalem holy site, which is revered by both Muslims and Jews.

Police threw stun grenades to disperse small crowds of youths outside Jerusalem’s medieval walls, and dozens of protesters marched on a crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip before being driven back by volleys of tear gas.

Protests also flared in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, at an Israeli-manned checkpoint outside the northern city of Nablus and in the flashpoint holy city of Hebron, where a Palestinian sniper shot dead an Israeli soldier on Sunday.

Witnesses reported several light injuries in the clashes and police said they arrested 12 Palestinians in Jerusalem for throwing stones at security forces.

Palestinian protests over a visit to the al-Aqsa mosque compound by then Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon in September 2000 spiralled into deadly clashes and a five-year Palestinian uprising, known as the second Intifada.

Palestinians oppose Jewish worship at the plaza, which overlooks Judaism’s Western Wall, seeing it as a first step toward restricting access to the area for Muslims and a deepening of Israeli control over the Old City.