Light clashes break out in West Bank, Jerusalem

JERUSALEM, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- In separate incidents on Tuesday, Palestinians and settlers hurdled rocks in the West Bank and Jerusalem and a protest in front of an Israeli prison turned into a confrontation with the police.

Palestinians threw rocks and shoes at visitors and police at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem with one police officer sustaining a light wound to his head, while earlier on Tuesday Rachel's Tomb compound in the West Bank had to be closed due to the hurling of stones.

Israeli settlers retaliated these attacks by throwing rocks at Palestinian drivers near Ramallah, with two cars damaged, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Police also noted that 10 olive trees belonging to Palestinians were uprooted as part of the attacks.

Tensions also ran high near the Ofer prison in Israel, where around 100 people congregated to protest Islamic Jihad operative Khader Adnan be released from custody.

The protesters threw rocks at the police, while claiming that around 11 people were seriously wounded after the police used crowd-dispersal means.

Adnan, who had been on a hunger strike for more than a month, later announced he was ending his protest after learning that he would be released from administrative detention.