JERUSALEM, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Israeli security forces are on high alert Sunday morning around the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as excavation works resume at the Mughrabi Gate near the Muslim holy shrine.

    The move came as intelligence showed that both Fatah and Hamas, the two mainstream Palestinian factions, are trying to instigate more violence in Jerusalem, Israeli police sources said.

    According to Israeli police, more security forces are dispatched around the Old City and roadblocks are erected in East Jerusalem.

    Entry to the Temple Mount is limited to Muslim men with Israeli identity cards aged 45 and over, and Muslim women of any age. Tourists and Israeli Jews are forbidden to get into the site.

    Israel on Tuesday began excavation works in the Jerusalem Archeological Park, sitting beneath the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. It said the operation was aimed at erecting supporting pillars for a permanent and safe bridge leading to the entrance of the compound.

    But such a move triggered fury among Muslims, who considered it a damage to the al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest Islamic shrine. The tension reached its peak Friday afternoon, when police forced their way into the Temple Mount compound, firing stun grenades at protestors who hurled stones, Molotov cocktails and metal shards at policemen shortly after Friday prayers ended.

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