Israeli police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades towards rock-hurling Palestinian youths at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque this evening amid growing anger over the potential eviction of Palestinians from homes on land claimed by Jewish settlers.
At least 163 Palestinians and six police officers were wounded in clashes across the city, the Palestinian Red Crescent and Israeli police said.
The Red Crescent said most of the wounded were hurt in clashes at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and that most of the injuries were caused by rubber bullets.
A spokeswoman said medics opened a field hospital to treat the high number of patients.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is Islam's third-holiest site, which is also revered by Jews as the location of two biblical-era temples.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians packed into the hilltop compound surrounding the mosque earlier today for prayers. Many stayed on to protest against evictions in the city.
Tension has mounted in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, with nightly clashes in East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah.
This neighbourhood is where numerous Palestinian families face eviction in a long-running legal case.
Calls for calm and restraint poured in today from the United States and the United Nations, with others including Jordan, condemning the possible evictions.
But following the evening meal that breaks the Ramadan fast, clashes broke out at Al-Aqsa with smaller scuffles near Sheikh Jarrah, which sits near the walled Old City's famous Damascus Gate.
Police used water cannon mounted on armoured vehicles to disperse several hundred protesters gathered near the homes of families facing potential eviction.
An Aqsa official appealed for calm on the compound through the mosque's loudspeakers. "Police must immediately stop firing stun grenades at worshippers, and the youth must calm down and be quiet!"
Israel's Supreme Court will hold a hearing on the Sheikh Jarrah evictions on Monday, the same day that Israel marks Jerusalem Day - its annual celebration of capturing East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East war.
Two Palestinians were killed and a third critically wounded earlier today after they opened fire on an Israeli base in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli border police said.
The attack near the northern West Bank town of Jenin was the second shooting in the territory this week.
