Israeli police storm holy site to break up protest

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli police stormed one of Jerusalem's holiest sites today to disperse hundreds of Palestinian stone-throwers protesting Israel's contentious West Bank barrier.
Palestinian worshippers at the Old City compound that is the site of Jewish biblical temples and home to two mosques began throwing stones at police officers at the end of prayers today, Israeli police spokesman Shmulik Ben-Ruby said.
Violence surrounding the barrier reached a peak Thursday when Israeli security forces killed two Palestinians protesting the structure. Israeli troops fired live ammunition, rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters at the stone-throwing demonstrators.
Palestinians have been holding mass demonstrations against the barrier since Monday when the International Court of Justice at The Hague, Netherlands, began hearings on the legality of the structure.
The hearings ended Wednesday and the court is expected to hand down a nonbinding opinion in the coming months.
Palestinian stone-throwers on the Temple Mount compound -- Judaism's holiest site and Islam's third holiest -- threw rocks at Jewish worshippers praying at the Western Wall below. Worshippers were briefly evacuated, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, the chief Jewish official at the site, said.