Clashes erupted inside the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem early Wednesday as Israeli police said they had entered to dislodge "agitators", in a move denounced as an "unprecedented crime" by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. The fresh violence came nearly halfway through Ramadan and as Jews prepared to celebrate Passover.

The mosque, which is Islam's third holiest site, is built on top of what Jews call the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site.