OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Clashes erupted between Israeli police and Palestinian nationals at a sensitive Jerusalem holy site Thursday as thousands of Muslim worshipers entered to end a boycott of the compound over new Israeli security measures.

An AFP correspondent witnessed the clashes erupt shortly after the worshippers entered.

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported 100 people wounded both inside the Haram al-Sharif compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, and in the immediate area.

The reasons for the clashes inside the compound were not immediately clear.

Outside, clashes also broke out when a group of Israeli policemen walked in the middle of a crowd. Palestinian nationals threw plastic bottles and Israeli forces fired stun grenades.

Thousands of worshippers had earlier streamed into the compound for afternoon prayers, ending a boycott after Israel removed controversial new security measures, installed after a July 14 attack killed two policemen.

The site includes the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

Muslim worshipers had refused to enter the compound and prayed in the streets outside after Israel installed the new security measures.

Palestinian nationals viewed the move as Israel asserting further control over the site.

Israeli authorities said the measures, including metal detectors, were needed because the July 14 attackers smuggled guns into the compound and emerged from it to attack the officers.

Deadly unrest erupted in the days after the new measures were introduced, with clashes breaking out around the compound and in the occupied West Bank, leaving five Palestinians dead.

A Palestinian national also broke into a home in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank last week and stabbed four Israeli nationals, killing three of them.