Israeli police entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Sunday, clearing Palestinians from outside the mosque two days after scores of people were injured there.

The raid is the latest outbreak in a recent upsurge of violence that has heightened fears of a return to wider conflict.

Later on Sunday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan criticized the actions of the Israeli police, condemning what he called an "intervention on worshipers" at the mosque.

In a call, Erdogan told his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas that "we will stand against provocations and threats to its status or spirit."

"Turkey always stands with Palestine," he posted on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Israel's governing coalition faced a fresh divide on Sunday when Arab-Israeli party Raam "suspended" its membership.

What happened at the site?

Police said they had gone to the site early Sunday to allow the routine visit of Jews to the holy site, but that Palestinians had set up barriers to block the way.

Israeli officials said they had arrested at least two Palestinians as they cleared out the plaza to allow a group of some 30 Jewish visitors to enter. Several Palestinians were injured in the resulting violence, police and medics said.

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, 19 Palestinians were wounded, including five who were hospitalized.

A total of nine Palestinians were arrested in East Jerusalem's Old Town and holy sites for "stone-throwing, disturbance of public order and violent riots," police said.

On Friday, Israeli police said Palestinians had thrown stones toward the Western Wall, an adjacent holy site for Jews.

Police had entered the Al-Aqsa complex shortly after dawn prayers, and more than 150 people were injured. Some 400 people were arrested, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club NGO.

Why is the site such a flashpoint?

The site is the holiest place for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount, and the third most sacred site in Islam. It has long been a focal point for violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

The site is under Muslim administration, but Israel is responsible for security. Under a deal with the Muslim authorities, Jews are permitted to visit but not to pray there.

Tensions have been on the rise amid weeks of deadly violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank. They come, this year, as the Jewish feast of Passover and Christian Easter overlap the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Last year, violence also erupted during Ramadan in Jerusalem, including at Al-Aqsa. 

Police raids at the site and threats of Palestinian displacement in East Jerusalem helped ignite an 11-day Israel-Gaza war. More than 250 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 13 people in Israel.

Israeli forces have killed 29 Palestinians since last month, carrying out raids in the West Bank after a series of attacks by Palestinian assailants that killed 14 Israelis.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, as well as the West Bank, in the 1967 Six-Day War, but the international community has not recognized it as part of Israel. Palestinians claim the territories for their own state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

jsi, mm, rc/fb (dpa, AP, Reuters)