World Bulletin/News Desk

Limited clashes broke out Monday between dozens of Palestinian youths and Israeli police in East Jerusalem's Jabel al-Mukaber neighborhood.

According to witnesses, clashes erupted after Israeli officials left the homes of two Palestinians responsible for last week's attack on a West Jerusalem synagogue that left five Israelis dead – along with the two Palestinian attackers – and six other Israelis injured.

Israeli police used teargas and rubber bullets to disperse Palestinian protesters, eyewitnesses said.

Israeli officials came to examine the homes and take measurements in what appeared to be a prelude to demolition operations, according to eyewitnesses.

On Thursday, the Israeli army informed the families of the two Palestinians responsible for the synagogue attack that their homes would be demolished.

"Israel's military prosecution authorities are looking into appeals filed by the families against the demolition order," Mahmoud Mahmoud, an attorney with the Al-Dameer Association for Human Rights, a Palestinian NGO, told The Anadolu Agency.

"We expect a verdict any moment. In case the appeals are rejected, we will file another appeal with Israel's Supreme Court," Mahmoud added.

Tension has run high in East Jerusalem since late last month, when Israel briefly closed the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound after an extremist rabbi was shot and injured by a Palestinian man in West Jerusalem.

The shooting suspect was later killed by Israeli forces in a raid on his East Jerusalem home.

Since then, a total of 11 Israelis, including two security personnel, have been killed and injured in a spate of attacks by Palestinians – both inside Israel and in the occupied territories.

Further aggravating the situation, a handful of Israeli MPs and scores of Jewish settlers have forced their way into the mosque complex in recent weeks, drawing the ire of Muslim worshippers and official condemnation from Arab and Muslim countries.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

In September 2000, a visit to Al-Aqsa by controversial Israeli politician Ariel Sharon triggered what later became known as the "Second Intifada," a popular uprising against Israel's decades-long occupation in which thousands of Palestinians were killed.