Some 500 police and were deployed in and around the city, where the effort to build the mosque has prompted friction between Israeli Arab Christians and Muslems since late 1997, when a group of Muslims put up a tent at the site and declared it a mosque.

The demolition, expected to be completed by the end of the day, follows a court order at the conclusion of a protracted legal battle. Immediately after the demolition work has ended, the Housing Ministry plans to begin building a large central municipal square at the site.

A number of demonstrators were arrested or detained near the foundations Tuesday, including the city's deputy mayor, Salman Abu Ahmed, arrested for blocking a road near the site. On the whole, however, protests were much milder than security forces had feared.

The large church is a focus of Christian pilgrimage from abroad. Some six years ago, the government intially granted approval to the mosque project, which was to have been built less than 500 meters from the church, but the decision was reversed under heavy pressure from world Christians.

Earlier this month, the Nazareth District Court rejected an appeal by the city's Waqf (Muslim Religious Trust), and ordered that the demolition go ahead.

"The demolition is simply a provocation, aimed at riding roughshod over the Muslim population of Nazareth," Abu Ahmed said before his arrest.

"I call on everyone to gather here and and make decisions. It is a disgrace for the government of Israel to destroy a mosque that lacks authorization, at the same time that hundreds, even thousands of houses standing in and around the city lack permits."