In this Feb 12, 2023 photo, Israeli border police forces gather on a rooftop near the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock mosques in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound. (PHOTO / AFP)

JERUSALEM – A man detained by Israeli police near a flashpoint mosque compound in Jerusalem on Saturday grabbed an officer's gun and fired it, prompting the unit to shoot him dead, the force said on Saturday, describing the incident as a terrorist attack.

The incident at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, an icon of Palestinian nationalism, came at a high point of Muslim attendance for the holy month of Ramadan.

The police statement identified the slain man as a 26-year-old resident of Hura, a Bedouin town in south Israel. There were no police casualties, it added.

Reuters could not immediately verify the account independently.

Israeli-Palestinian tensions are simmering after months of violence in areas of Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.