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Israeli police clashed with Arabs at the Temple Mount on Wednesday, leaving more than 15 people injured in the latest round of unrest at the holy site in Jerusalem, CNN reported.

Groups of Arab youths threw stones and set off fireworks at Israeli police officers near one of the gates when the site was opened to visitors, police spokeswomen Luba Samri said.

The Arabs were pushed back into the al-Aqsa Mosque, Samri said, and in an attempt to control the violence, police closed access to the Temple Mount, which Muslims call Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary).

Eyewitnesses among Muslim worshipers at the site gave a different version of events, saying hundreds of police officers raided the compound, throwing stun grenades into the mosque in an effort to clear a way for Jewish protesters to access the area.

The Jewish protesters were attending a support rally for Rabbi Yehuda Glick, a right-wing activist who was shot by a Palestinian last week, ratcheting up tensions in Jerusalem and prompting the temporary closure of the Temple Mount.

Samri said the Arab youths had gathered in the mosque overnight, amassing rocks, fireworks and Molotov cocktails with which to attack police.

"Inside the mosque they formed obstacles to hide behind," she said. "There were violent clashes with the police."

Police went several meters into the mosque in order to clear obstacles preventing them from closing the door, Samri said, adding that Jews and tourists were now allowed back to the site.

But unrest flared again later near another gate, when police threw stun grenades and fired rubber bullets at Muslim worshipers who were chanting and praying because they weren't allowed back into the site.

Paramedics from the Red Crescent at the scene told CNN that 15 people were injured, one of them with a serious injury to the eye. Samri said a number of police officers were injured.