Jerusalem clashes ahead of slain Palestinian teen funeral

Palestinians clashed with Israeli police in east Jerusalem on Friday, ahead of the emotionally-charged funeral of a Palestinian teenager believed murdered by Israelis.
      
It was the third straight day of violence since Mohammed Abu Khder, 16, was kidnapped and found dead on Wednesday in a suspected revenge attack for the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers last month.
      
"Dozens of Palestinian youngsters, some masked, threw stones at police in Ras al-Amud," Israeli police tweeted, referring to a neighbourhood of annexed Arab east Jerusalem.        

"The police drove them off with riot control means," a term usually referring to tear gas or stun grenades.
      
Police said "thousands" of officers were on the streets across east Jerusalem ahead of the teenager's funeral in the Shuafat neighbourhood, which coincided with the first Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
      
Despite the occasion, just 8,000 worshippers joined the prayers at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, Israeli police spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP.
      
Many apparently stayed away fearing clashes with police. On the same day last year police reported a crowd of 80,000.        

Police allowed access only to women, and men over 50. Last year, the age limit for men was 40.
      
Israeli military commanders meanwhile waited to see if a series of statements by Israeli leaders promising to "meet quiet with quiet" would bring a halt to the latest flare-up of violence on the Gaza border.
                      
Media reports spoke of a possible truce in the making after a week of militant rocket fire into southern Israel and...