Fresh tension in Jerusalem

Three Arab-Israeli gunmen shot dead two Israeli policemen near one of Jerusalem's most holy places yesterday, and were then killed by security forces, police said.

It was one of the most serious attacks so close to the volatile holy site, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, in years.

Israeli authorities shut the area to Muslims gathering for Friday prayers afterwards, drawing a call for resistance from Palestinian religious leaders.

The Palestinian Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammad Hussein, called on Palestinians to defy the closure, and was later detained.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but also said closing down the area could have repercussions.

The three gunmen arrived at the sacred site, which stands on a marble and stone plateau on the edge of Jerusalem's Old City, and walked towards one of the nearby ancient stone gates, police spokeswoman Luba Simri said.

"When they saw policemen they shot towards them and then escaped towards one of the mosques in the Temple Mount compound," Simri said. "A chase ensued and the three terrorists were killed by police."

She said three firearms were found on their bodies. The Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, said the gunmen were all Arab citizens of Israel who were unknown to the authorities.

Mobile phone video footage aired by Israeli media showed several police chasing a man and shooting him at the site, a popular place for foreign tourists to visit.

The two policemen killed were Israeli Arab citizens from the country's Druze community. The Israeli ambulance service Magen David Adom said a third policeman was lightly wounded in the incident.

In an apparent effort to ease tensions, Netanyahu said in a statement there would be no change to the status quo in which only Muslim prayer is permitted, a message he reiterated in his phone call with Abbas, according to Netanyahu's office.

Meanwhile, another Palestinian was killed during clashes with Israeli forces at a refugee camp near the city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The ministry identified the man killed as Bara Hamamdah, 18, and said he had been shot in the chest during the clashes in Dheisheh.

Tensions are often high around the compound, which houses the Aqsa Mosque and the golden Dome of the Rock. It is managed by Jordanian religious authorities and is adjacent to the Western Wall, a holy site where Jews are permitted to pray.