Israeli border police block a road in Jerusalem as Muslims pray Friday, October 31. A day after taking the rare step of closing the Temple Mount holy site, Israel partially reopened access for Muslim prayers Friday. But midday access was granted only to men over 50 and women. Israeli police said this was meant to prevent demonstrations by young Muslim men following the recent shootings of a controversial rabbi and a Palestinian suspect in the rabbi's shooting. 
Israelis walk at the Jewish quarter in the Old City overlooking the Temple Mount on October 31. The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism and the third-holiest site in Islam. 
Israeli police detain activist Noam Federman after he tried to enter the Temple Mount on Thursday, October 30. The closing of the holy site -- the first in more than a decade -- infuriated Palestinians, with a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas calling it a "declaration of war." 
A van burns in Jerusalem during clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces on October 30. 
Israeli police scuffle with activists trying to enter the Temple Mount on October 30. 
Israeli police patrol Jerusalem during clashes on October 30. 
Palestinians throw stones in the streets of Jerusalem on October 30. 
Israeli police surround the Jerusalem home of Mu'taz Ihjazi on October 30. Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said Ihjazi, a Palestinian suspect in the shooting of Rabbi Yehuda Glick, was shot and killed after he opened fire on police. Glick, an advocate of Jewish access to Muslim holy sites, was shot after he gave a presentation in Jerusalem on Wednesday, October 29. 
Israeli demonstrators wave flags outside the Menachem Begin Heritage Center, where Glick was shot in Jerusalem on October 29. - At midday Friday, the site was open only to men ages 50 and older and to women
- Israel closed the Temple Mount, which includes al-Aqsa Mosque, on Thursday after two shootings
- Rabbi Yehuda Glick was shot and hospitalized in serious condition
- Police say they shot and killed a suspect in the shooting after he fired at them
Jerusalem (CNN) -- Israel partially reopened access to the Temple Mount for Muslim prayers Friday, a day after taking a rare step of closing it amid Israeli-Palestinian tensions following the shooting of a controversial rabbi and subsequent killing of a suspect.
Midday access to the site, which includes the al-Aqsa Mosque, was granted only to men ages 50 and above, as well as to women -- restrictions that Israeli police said were meant to prevent demonstrations by young Muslim men.
About 4,000 people attended midday prayers at the mosque, police said, down from thousands more that are normally seen around noon on the Muslim holy day of Friday. Police presence also was beefed up, with about 3,000 officers in and around the Old City and East Jerusalem.
Thursday's closure of the Temple Mount -- the first in more than a decade -- infuriated Palestinians, with a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas calling it a "declaration of war."
The scene Friday at the mosque was largely peaceful, with people praying quietly, police said.
Israeli statesmen David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Rabin lead a group of soldiers past the Dome of the Rock in June 1967, during a victory tour following the Six-Day War. The dome in Jerusalem is part of the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism and the third-holiest site in Islam. The Temple Mount, which Muslims know as Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), also includes the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Western Wall. 
Israeli soldiers are seen in front of the Dome of the Rock in October 1990. 
Ariel Sharon, then a candidate for Israeli prime minister, is flanked by security guards as he leaves the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in September 2000. The Second Intifada, a five-year Palestinian uprising, was sparked by Sharon's visit, Palestinians say. Sharon insisted that his visit was not intended to provoke Palestinians, but many saw it as an attempt to underline Israel's claim to Jerusalem's holy sites. 
Jewish women pray behind a barrier at the Western Wall in February 2004, following a collapse of the wall into the prayer area. 
Pope Benedict XVI stands in front of the Dome of the Rock in May 2009. 
The al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock overlook a neighborhood in East Jerusalem in March 2010. 
A Palestinian worshipper who was prevented from reaching the al-Aqsa Mosque prays outside Jerusalem's Old City while Israeli forces stand guard in March 2010. Police had temporarily limited access. 
Israeli police detain activist Noam Federman after he tried to enter the Temple Mount on Thursday, October 30, in Jerusalem. Israel says it temporarily closed access to the Temple Mount "to prevent disturbances" after the drive-by shooting of controversial activist Rabbi Yehuda Glick. Israel partially reopened access to the Temple Mount for Muslim prayers Friday. Photos: Temple Mount holy site 
Palestinians furious over Al-Aqsa closing 
Israel closes Al Aqsa after shooting 
Holy site closed for first time in years The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is the holiest site in Judaism and the third-holiest site in Islam. Jews call it the Temple Mount, and Muslims know it as Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary).
Closure came after Wednesday shootings
Israeli police said they closed the Temple Mount on Thursday "to prevent disturbances" after the drive-by shooting of controversial activist Rabbi Yehuda Glick on Wednesday night.
Israeli police shot and killed a suspect in Glick's shooting Wednesday night. An Israeli counterterror unit surrounded the house of the unnamed suspect in the shooting, police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said on Twitter.
He said the man opened fire on police, who shot and killed him.
Glick is an advocate of Jewish access to Jerusalem's fiercely contested holy sites. After he gave a presentation in Jerusalem on Wednesday night, a man on a motorcycle shot him.
Rosenfeld described the attack on Glick as an "attempted assassination." The rabbi was undergoing an abdominal operation for intestinal issues Friday afternoon and was in serious but stable condition, said Dr. Ofer Merkin, head of the trauma unit at Shaare Zedek hospital.
Ofir Gendelman, the Israeli Prime Minister's spokesman for Arab media, tweeted that Thursday's Temple Mount closure was "temporary & meant to prevent riots & escalation as well as to to restore calm and status quo to the Holy Places."
The closure didn't sit well with Palestinians. Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh told CNN that the decision to close off the site was a "brazen challenge" and "grave behavior" that would lead to "further tensions and instability."
Earlier, Rudeineh told the WAFA news agency, the official Palestinian news service, that Israel's act was a "declaration of war on the Palestinian people, Palestinian religious sites and a declaration of war on both the Arab and Islamic states."
Contested site
The site, with its golden dome overlooking Jerusalem, is said to have hosted sacred events in both the Jewish and Muslim religions.
Rabbinic sages say that God gathered dust from the spot to create Adam, the first man, before setting him loose in the Garden of Eden.
Jewish tradition holds that the Temple Mount also contains Mount Moriah, where Abraham, the Hebrew patriarch, is said to have nearly sacrificed his son -- under God's orders -- before an angel intervened.
Later, Israeli King Solomon constructed the first Jewish temple on the mount, including the Holy of Holies, a room that kept the Ark of the Covenant, which was said to contain the tablets on which God wrote the Ten Commandments.
Muslims believe that the Prophet Mohammed was carried on a flying steed from Mecca to the Jerusalem site during his miraculous Night Journey, said Muqtedar Khan, an expert on Islam and politics at the University of Delaware.
"It's all about al-Aqsa," said Khan. "That's why all Muslims are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause."
According to Islamic tradition, the Night Journey took Mohammed to the same Jerusalem rock on which Abraham nearly sacrificed his son, where the Muslim founder led Abraham, Moses and Jesus in prayers as the last of God's prophets.
That rock is now said to sit in the Dome of the Rock, whose golden roof gleams above the Old City skyline.
Since its construction in the seventh century, the Haram al-Sharif, now controlled by an Islamic trust, has been an almost constant source of tension between Muslims and Jews.
In the 1980s, Jewish radicals plotted to blow up the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa, believing that it would lead to a spiritual revolution and usher in the Messiah.
In 2000, the Second Intifada -- a 5-year-long Palestinian uprising -- was sparked, Palestinians say, after Ariel Sharon, then a candidate for Israeli prime minister, visited the compound surrounding al-Aqsa.
Sharon insisted that his visit was not intended to provoke Palestinians, but many saw it as an attempt to underline Israel's claim to Jerusalem's holy sites.
CNN's Michael Schwartz reported from Jerusalem. CNN's Jason Hanna and Holly Yan reported and wrote in Atlanta. CNN's Daniel Burke and Kareem Khadder contributed to this report.
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