Israeli police have clashed with Muslim worshippers at a major Jerusalem holy site during prayers to mark the Eid al-Adha holiday.

Palestinian medics said at least 14 people has been wounded, one seriously, in the skirmishes at the site, which Muslims refer to as the al-Aqsa mosque and Jews as the Temple Mount. Police said at least four officers had been wounded.

Officers fired teargas, stun grenades and rubber bullets in the worst violence at the contested site in months. Witnesses said at least two people had been arrested.

The clashes come at a time of heightened tensions between Israel and Palestine, just days after an Israeli soldier was killed south of Jerusalem. Israeli troops killed four Palestinians who the army said had attempted to cross the Gaza border on Saturday.

Tens of thousands of Muslims had gathered at the site in Jerusalem’s Old City early on Sunday for holiday prayers, police said. Jews were also observing the Ninth of Av on Sunday, a day of fasting and mourning for the destruction of the two Biblical temples that stood at the site in antiquity.

The site is the holiest for Jews and the third holiest for Muslims after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, and has long been a flashpoint and major point of contention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Jordan, which serves as the custodian of the site, said in a statement that it had sent a formal complaint to Israel and condemned its “irresponsible provocations.” Sufian al-Qudah, a spokesman for the Jordanian foreign ministry, said Amman held Israel completely responsible for the violence.

The clashes broke out after large numbers of Palestinians had gathered at the gates of the compound early Sunday in response to rumours circulated that police would allow Jewish visitors to enter the site. The protesters chanted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) and threw stones at police, who then charged into the compound while firing stun grenades and rubber-coated bullets.

Israeli police had initially barred entry to Jewish visitors, but reversed their decision after the clashes broke out and allowed them to enter.

The compound is in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 war along with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, territories the Palestinians claim as a future state. Israel views all of Jerusalem as its unified capital, while the Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as their capital.

Tensions have spiked since Donald Trump’s decision in 2017 to break with international convention and recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the US embassy there. The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been moribund for at least a decade, and the Palestinians have cut ties with the Trump administration over what they see as its bias toward Israel.

The Israeli army said troops had killed a Palestinian gunman in a separate incident on Sunday after he opened fire on them from across the perimeter fence around the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza identified the dead man as 26-year-old Marwan Nasser. It was not clear if he was a member of an armed group, and no one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.