Israel Closes Temple Mount after Riots

JERUSALEM,  Israel -- Police closed the Temple Mount to visitors Wednesday morning following more Arab riots that injured two officers.

There's a heightened security presence in the Old City due to the Passover holiday and the upcoming Priestly Blessing, when thousands of Israelis from around the country will visit Jerusalem and the Western Wall.

Police used riot control gear against Muslim youth throwing rocks and fire bombs at police. Arabs also wounded another officer in a rock-throwing incident in one of the Old City's narrow streets.

The Palestinian Authority's official Ma'an news agency reported that "dozens of worshippers" were hurt in "fierce clashes with Israeli forces storming the al-Aksa Mosque compound."

Palestinians and the Arab world refer to the Temple Mount, where two consecutive Jewish Temples once stood until the second was destroy by the Romans in 70 AD., as the al-Aksa compound after the mosque on the site.