Canadian tourists got caught in ongoing violence in Jerusalem Saturday as Palestinians continue to protest Israeli construction at a disputed holy site.
Palestinian teenagers attacked a bus carrying a small group of Canadians and threw rocks at police.
The bus was carrying vacationing Canadians on a tour of the Mount of Olives holy site in east Jerusalem.
"We were just driving and all of a sudden a bunch of kids started picking up rocks and whatever they could get their hands on and started throwing it at the bus,'' said tourist Dave Wood.
"This is our first day in the Holy City and it was quite disturbing to say the least.''
A police station in the area was also stoned, said Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben Ruby, who predicted more clashes Saturday.
There were no injuries in either of the incidents.
The violence erupted one day after Israeli police raided the disputed compound -- known to Jews as the Temple Mount and as the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims -- using tear gas and stun grenades to disperse Muslims who staged demonstrations after Friday prayers.
About 200 riot police streamed into the compound on Friday, clashing with some of the 3,000 Muslim worshippers.
The Associated Press reports that clouds of tear gas rose into the sky and sharp booms pierced the air. Outside the compound, hundreds of teenagers hurled stones, iron bars, vegetables and at least one firebomb at police, authorities said. Police responded with stun grenades.
Police presence was increased in the city in order to prevent a surge of violence and Muslim men under the age of 45 were banned from praying at the disputed site on Saturday.
Anger has spread across the Muslim world, as Israel does repair and construction work that opponents say threatens the compound.
However, Israel claims the work will come nowhere near the site.
The compound -- which has been a catalyst for earlier rounds of Israel-Palestinian fighting -- is home to the golden-capped Dome of the Rock shrine and Al Aqsa mosque and is believed to be the site where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. It is considered to be the third-holiest site in Islam.
Jews, meanwhile, consider the compound to be the site of their biblical temples, and one of its outer walls is the holiest site in Judaism.
The construction work underway is part of a plan to build a new walkway leading to the holy site to replace a ramp that was damaged in a snowstorm three years ago.
However, some Palestinians have expressed fears that the project is actually an attempt to tunnel under the compound and damage their holy shrines.
But Israeli officials say they are not digging under the compound, or even close to it.
"We have nothing to hide and yet extremist elements with a hateful agenda have cynically provoked violence by deliberately spreading mistruths about what we're doing,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.
With files from The Associated Press
