JERUSALEM, July 14, 2017 (WAFA) – Three Palestinians were shot dead on Friday during a shootout near the Lions‘ Gate (Bab al-Asbat) of al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem.

Israeli Police shot dead three Palestinians, including two aged 19, in the vicinity of the Lions’ Gate (Bab al-Asbat) after the latter carried out a shooting attack against Israeli “border guards”.

Three Israeli policemen were reportedly shot and injured in the shootout, two of whom succumbed to their critical wounds shortly after.

The Jerusalem Islamic Waqf said Israeli police shot the three males after a chase inside al-Aqsa mosque compound.

Israeli police reports claimed the three opened fire at Israeli police officers near the said gate, and fled toward al-Aqsa mosque compound. The police chased down the males and shot them down.

Ambulance crews were prevented from reaching the scene, and the three were left bleeding on the ground.

Israeli police declared al-Aqsa mosque compound a closed military zone in the aftermath of the shootout, banning Friday prayer inside the mosque for the first time since the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem back in 1967.

The three were identified as Mohammed Ahmad Jabarin, 29, Mohammed Hamed Jabarin, 19,, and Mohammed Ahmad M. Jabarin, 19, all of whom are residents of Umm al-Fahem, an Arab city inside the preoccupied 1948 land, Israel.