Riots erupted near the Western Wall and Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem on Wednesday, after a Palestinian man was shot dead by an Israeli security guard earlier in the day.

Open gallery view Palestinians riot in in East Jerusalem neigborhood of Silwan, Sept. 22, 2010. Credit: Tomer Appelbaum

More than 10 Israelis were wounded as hundreds of Palestinians began hurling stones toward Israeli security personnel after the funeral of the man, who had been shot dead in the East Jerusalem area of Silwan, an area that sees frequent tensions over its settler enclave.



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An Israeli man, 35, was stabbed by a Palestinian rioter near Mount Scopus and hospitalized with moderate wounds, while three more Israelis were slightly wounded in the same area as Palestinian rioters overturned their car.

Police forces have been deployed throughout the area, including the Western Wall and the Temple Mount to prevent angry Palestinians from hurling stones at the Jewish worshipers praying ahead of the start of Sukkot at sundown Wednesday.

The guard shot the 32-year-old man while driving through Silwan before dawn, a police spokesman said, adding that the guard told investigators he had opened fire after his car was blocked and stoned by dozens of Palestinians.

The security guard told police that he was driving through the town alone and stopped at a gas station, despite the guidelines which forbade him from stopping in the local stations. The guard added that he feared that he would be abducted after several Palestinians blocked his car.

Silwan, located right below the southern section of the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, is a focus of tension between around 300 Israeli settlers, who moved into the neighborhood, and approximately 55,000 Palestinian residents.

Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of the state they intend to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a demand at the heart of U.S.-sponsored peace talks with Israel which resumed this month.

Palestinians torched cars and threw stones and firebombs at Israeli police in Silwan last month after residents reported that settlers had tried to cross a mosque courtyard to reach an ancient spring where religious Jews conduct ritual ablutions.

