Others held their stomachs and heads in pain. Doctors at Jerusalem hospitals reported four deaths and said they had treated more than 200 wounded people. Doctors said some of the injured had been hit by live ammunition. Israeli's police chief, Yehuda Wilk, said police largely fired rubber-coated steel pellets, but that snipers also fired some live rounds at the Temple Mount, targeting protesters they felt endangered the lives of officers. It was not clear if those killed were hit by live fire.
Rubber bullets can also be fatal.
Israeli police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said dozens of policemen were wounded by stones hurled by Palestinian protesters, and three were seriously hurt. At one point, Israeli police ringed the hospital, triggering a barrage of stones by Palestinians who feared the troops had come to arrest some of the injured. Scores were hurt in renewed clashes. Controversy Spreads Violence also erupted between the two sides elsewhere today. A Palestinian policeman opened fire on Israeli colleagues with whom he was patrolling the West Bank town of Qalqiliya.