World Bulletin/News Desk

Israeli police imposed fresh restrictions on access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem on Friday, amid tension in the holy city following the shooting of a Palestinian driver who allegedly ran over several Israelis.

Only male worshippers aged 40 and above and women of all ages were allowed into the holy site, according to eyewitnesses.

Israeli police were seen deployed in Jerusalem's Old City and at the Aqsa Mosque gates ahead of the weekly Friday prayers.

Tension mounted in East Jerusalem since Wednesday, when Israeli police shot a Palestinian driver who allegedly ran over several Israeli pedestrians in Jerusalem.

A three-month-old baby was reportedly killed and eight people injured in the incident. The driver subsequently died in a hospital.

Clashes erupted Friday between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian protesters following the weekly prayers in East Jerusalem.

Israeli soldiers fired stun grenades and sound bombs to disperse Palestinian protesters in the Wadi Joz neighborhood in East Jerusalem's Old City.

Three Palestinians were detained during the clashes, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told Anadolu Agency.

Ten Palestinians suffered temporary asphyxiation late on Thursday when Israeli policemen fired teargas amid renewed clashes with Palestinians in the central East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.

Israel's Channel 2 described the clashes, which first broke out on Wednesday, as a "real uprising."

On Thursday, scores of masked Palestinians tried to prevent Israeli policemen from breaking into Silwan neighborhood, eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency.

They said the Palestinians set off fireworks and pelted the Israeli policemen with stones, and the policemen responded by firing teargas.

Other clashes, meanwhile, broke out in Shuafat refugee camp near Jerusalem between Palestinians and Israeli policemen.

Elsewhere, Israeli police detained 12 settlers who were part of a protest at the site of Wednesday's running over incident.

Scores of settlers staged a protest late on Thursday near the stop where the incident took place on Wednesday, according to Israel's Channel 10.

It added that the settlers had tried to block the road, opening the door for clashes with policemen and the subsequent detention of the 12 settlers.

During the protest, the settlers called on the Israeli government to counter what they described as "terrorism" in Jerusalem, the channel added.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state – a move never recognized by the international community.