UNITED NATIONS - The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations accused Israel on Monday of "illegal and aggressive" actions in occupied East Jerusalem and urged the Security Council to take urgent action after recent clashes.

"At this critical juncture, the international community cannot stand idly by as Israel, the occupying power, persists in illegal and aggressive actions, particularly in occupied East Jerusalem," said ambassador Riyad Mansour.

"The necessary efforts must be exerted, including by the Security Council, to uphold its responsibilities and legal obligations to protect and enforce international law and prevent an already volatile situation from further escalating."

Dozens of people were wounded on Sunday in clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians in and around the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, a flashpoint site holy to Muslims and Jews.

The site of the compound is the holiest place in Judaism and third-holiest to Muslims, after the Saudi cities of Mecca and Medina.

Palestinians hurled rocks from the rooftops of the Old City and set alight piles of rubbish, filling the narrow, centuries-old alleys with smoke as police manned barricades and used stun grenades to disperse the crowds.

"Israel, the occupying power, must be made well aware that the international community will neither recognize nor condone the illegal facts it is attempting to create and entrench in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in East Jerusalem," said Mansour in his letter addressed to the Security Council presidency, held this month by Vietnam.

"We thus call for urgent action to compel Israel to cease its illegal practices and to scrupulously abide by all of its legal obligations, including under the Fourth Geneva Convention." --AFP