Clashes have broken out between Israeli police and Palestinians at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque, one of the holiest sites in the city.

Footage on social media showed officers deploying tear gas and stun grenades to disperse a crowd of people, some wearing masks, who authorities said were throwing rocks at the compound.

At least 59 Palestinians have been injured, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service.

Thousands of worshippers were gathered at the mosque, two weeks into the month of Ramadan and with tensions already running high in the city after a string of terrorist attacks.

It was not immediately clear what sparked the violence.

According to the Islamic endowment that administers the site, Israeli police entered the area in force shortly after early morning prayers when thousands of people were at the mosque.

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The endowment added one of the guards at the site was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet.

Israel’s foreign ministry said dozens of masked men carrying Palestinian and Hamas flags march to the compound.

“Police were forced to enter the grounds to disperse the crowd and remove the stones and rocks, in order to prevent further violence,” it tweeted.

The mosque is the third holiest site in Islam and is built on a hilltop that is the most sacred site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount.

It has been a major flashpoint for Israeli-Palestinian violence for decades.

For the first time in thirty years, Passover, Ramadan and Easter fall on the same day on Friday and in Jerusalem, millions are expected to celebrate their faiths inside the city walls.

Through late March and early April, Israel suffered one of the worst waves of terrorist attacks it has experienced for many years.

In four separate incidents, 14 Israelis were killed, and scores injured.

Sky News’s Middle East correspondent, Alistar Bunkall, wrote that in recent days attacks have been carried out by a mix of Palestinians, Arab-Israelis and Bedouin.

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