New clashes at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound

Israeli police clashed again with Palestinian protesters at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Friday, raising fears of further escalation.

The police stormed the compound and fired teargas and rubber-tipped bullets at stone-throwing Palestinian youths, said aphotographer on the scene.

The clashes come after a month of deadly violence, as the Jewish festival of Passover overlaps with the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The violence has sparked international fears of a major escalation, a year after similar unrest led to an 11-day war.

The Israeli police said Palestinians began hurling stones towards the Western Wall, considered the holiest site where Jews can pray, from around 4:00 am.

"Police forces used crowd dispersal means in order to stop the violence," they said, adding one officer was wounded.

Fourteen Palestinians were rushed to hospital, one of them in serious condition, said the Palestinian Red Crescent.

"I woke up to the sound of clashes" after prayers, said a 22-year-old Palestinian from Nablus who only identified himself as Thaer.

In the past week, more than 200 people, mostly Palestinians, have been hurt in clashes in and around the Al-Aqsa compound.

This led to further escalation as Palestinian armed groups fired rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Israel retaliated with air strikes on Gaza, a blockaded territory with an impoverished population of 2.3 million.

Friday's clashes come after nearly a month of bloodshed focused on the Al-Aqsa compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.

Palestinians have been outraged by massive police deployment and repeated visits by Israeli Jews to the site, the third-holiest in Islam and the holiest in Judaism.

By long-standing convention, Jews are allowed to visit under certain conditions but are not allowed to pray there.

A Palestinian worshipper said moves by the Israelis such as blocking access to Al-Aqsa had created "tensions that lead to clashes".

"It's all because the occupation forces are regularly storming the holy Al-Aqsa mosque," Alaa al-Haddad said, adding hundreds were arrested there in the past week.