JERUSALEM, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Quiet returned to a flashpoint holy compound in Jerusalem on Monday, a day after Israeli police and Arab protesters engaged in the latest round of clashes over the site sacred to both Jews and Muslims.

    The famous location, known as Al-Haram Al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary, to Muslims and as the Temple Mount to Jews, was reopened to tourists and Muslim worshippers.

    The shady, narrow alleys of the Old City, which houses the compound on a raised plateau at its southeastern corner, were also back to quiet with a visible police presence.

    The calmness marked a sharp contrast with Sunday's violence, with police units storming the holy compound twice and using tear gas and stun grenades to disperse Arab protesters who threw stones at them. Over two dozen injuries were reported in the morning clashes.

    The violence, the third in a month, erupted after local Muslims were urged over the weekend to defend the sanctuary from what they called a "Jewish conquest," amid rumors that some Jewish extremists were attempting to damage the place.

    The confrontation highlighted an already inflammable atmosphere around the historic site, which has the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest place, as well as the gilded Dome of the Rock Mosque inside the compound and the Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray, outside it.

    Routine management of the compound is in the charge of a Muslim organization.

    Late last month, a visit by a group of Jews onto the compound triggered massive clashes that plagued the Old City and the Arab-dominated East Jerusalem for days.

    The eastern section of Jerusalem was annexed by Israel after the 1967 Middle East war, but Palestinians claim it to be the capital of their future state.

    A visit to the controversial compound nine years ago by then opposition leader Ariel Sharon, who later became prime minister, was widely seen as a trigger for the second Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, which engulfed Israel and Palestinian territories in bloody and deadly violence for years.     

Special Report: Palestine-Israel Conflicts