Israeli police armed with stun grenades and tear gas clashed with rock-throwing Palestinian youths who had barricaded themselves inside Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque for a third day, police and witnesses said.

Israeli police briefly clashed with Palestinian protesters at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site early yesterday, raising tensions in the holy city ahead of the Jewish new year.

A Palestinian man rammed his car into a crowded train platform in east Jerusalem today.

Israeli police have shot and killed a Palestinian man suspected of trying to kill a hard-line Jewish activist in Jerusalem, an incident that threatened to further inflame the city's already high tensions.

Israeli police have entered Jerusalem’s holiest site to disperse hundreds of Palestinians who were throwing rocks.

CROWDS of Palestinian youths went on violent rampages in east Jerusalem yesterday, stoning buses, overturning cars and facing down Israeli riot police at the holy city’s most sensitive religious site following the shooting death of a local man.

Crowds of Palestinian youths went on the rampage in east Jerusalem today as a sudden burst of violence clouded fragile peace efforts.

The rift in US-Israel relations deepened today after American envoy George Mitchell cancelled a visit and Jerusalem insisted it would not back down over building plans at the heart of the row.

Israel is coming under increasing US pressure to scrap the east Jerusalem building project which has sparked the most serious diplomatic feud in years.

Israel has sealed off the West Bank for 48 hours, preventing Palestinians from entering Israel because of fears of unrest.

Riot police and Muslim worshippers clashed during a protest in one of Jerusalem’s sacred areas today.

VIOLENCE at a holy site did not affect prayers at the Western Wall ahead of Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, which started yesterday at sundown and ends at sundown today.

A UNITED NATIONS anti-racism panel has questioned Israel’s policy on preserving holy sites, asking the country to explain whether it protects places considered sacred to religions other than Judaism.

The Jerusalem municipality will submit new plans for a walkway leading to a disputed holy compound, a city spokesman said today.

Palestinian teenagers threw rocks at Israeli police and attacked a Canadian tourist bus today in a new wave of protests against ongoing Israeli construction near a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site.

Israeli security forces tripled their usual numbers around Jerusalem’s Old City this morning as the city braced for possible riots during Muslim prayers at the Holy Land’s most contentious religious site.

An Israeli Islamic leader warned of “religious war” and Iran’s supreme leader urged retaliation against Israel today over new excavations and repairs in Jerusalem’s Old City, outside the Holy Land’s most explosive religious site.

The supreme leader of Iran has called on Islamic nations to retaliate against Israel over excavations being carried out near a hotly disputed holy site in Jerusalem.

Having ruled out leukaemia, French doctors were trying for a third day to determine what was causing the dramatic deterioration in Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s health.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said today that Yasser Arafat will not be permitted to be buried in Jerusalem if he dies.

ISRAEL yesterday threatened to limit the number of Muslims allowed to pray at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, saying a portion of the biblical-era structure was in danger of collapse.

TENS of thousands of Israelis were forming a human chain yesterday in a mass show of strength against government plans to pull all Jewish settlers and troops out of the Gaza Strip.

ISRAEL limited access to Muslim worshippers to a disputed shrine for special prayers yesterday during the holy month of Ramadan, setting off an angry scuffle, while the US offered a $5 million reward in the investigation of a deadly bombing of a US convoy.

Hundreds of Israeli police have entered the mosque compound that is Jerusalem's most contested religious site and fired stun grenades at Muslims who were throwing stones at Jews worshipping nearby.

Thousands of Palestinians gathered today for the funeral of Faisal Husseini, who dedicated his life to coexistence with Israel and Palestinian control over traditionally Arab parts of Jerusalem.

Palestinians were preparing a mass funeral procession through the West Bank today for Faisal Husseini, the top Palestinian official in Jerusalem, who died earlier of a heart attack during a visit to Kuwait.

Bill Clinton is sending negotiator Dennis Ross to the Middle East for a last attempt to narrow differences blocking a peace deal.