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Israel's defence minister has written to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert asking for an immediate halt to public works near Jerusalem's ultra-sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque that have sparked Muslim rage.
Amir Peretz said work on a new access bridge should stop, citing fears that the security situation will deteriorate, an official told AFP on condition of anonymity Thursday.
"The entire matter is currently being looked into, particularly in the prime minister's office," the official added.
Israel was continuing initial excavations for a third day on Thursday ahead of beginning the new construction near the third holiest site in world Islam -- despite fury from Arab and Muslim leaders and Palestinian protests.
Around 100 Palestinian and Arab Israelis demonstrated peacefully against the work next to Dung Gate, but police banned Jerusalem mufti Mohammed Hussein from accessing the area, a police spokesman said.
Israel has for days restricted access to the mosque compound to all but Muslim women and Muslim men aged over 45 with Israeli identity cards.
The Haaretz newspaper said Peretz's letter was attached to an opinion piece written by Reserve General Amos Gilad, a senior defence ministry official, saying that the construction would foment fury in the Arab world.
Sheikh Tayssir al-Tamimi, a senior Palestinian Muslim leader, has called for a one-day protest worldwide to denounce the works.
The compound, which houses both the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, is where the second Palestinian uprising erupted in 2000 after a controversial visit by then Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon.
It is revered by Jews as the site of their ancient temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
In 1996, more than 80 people were killed in three days of Palestinian riots after then Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened a new entrance to a controversial archaeological tunnel near the holy sites.
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