JERUSALEM (JTA) — A 73-year-old Jewish woman praying at the Western Wall was struck in the head by a rock thrown from the Temple Mount above by Palestinian rioters.
The woman suffered a light head injury in the attack on Tuesday, the first such attack on worshippers at the Western Wall in several years.
Tuesday was the third straight day of clashes between Palestinian rioters, many of them wearing masks, and Israeli police on the Temple Mount. Police said they arrested 17 Palestinians by midday Tuesday for involvement in the clashes and rock throwing. The rioters reportedly had been stockpiling weapons including rocks and fireworks at the Al-Aqsa mosque.
Earlier Tuesday, police closed the Temple Mount to non-Muslim visitors until the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at the end of the week. This was the first time in many years that non-Muslim visitors had been allowed to visit the site during Ramadan, and is believed to have sparked the violence.
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