The BBC has apologised after it posted a picture of the Temple Mount mosque with what appeared to be an Israeli flag flying from it.

The picture caused anger after it was published on the Middle East section of the corporation’s news website and formed part of its coverage of the terror attack in East Jerusalem today.

A spokesperson said: “We apologise for any offence caused by the use of the picture”.

BBC viewer Ian Taylor alerted attention to the photo when it appeared yesterday, saying: “This is a blatant attempt to try and provoke anti-Israeli feelings.

“I’ve done a Google image search to see if the picture’s been lifted off of the internet but can’t find anything, which suggests that some idiot in the BBC has done this himself.”

But the BBC said the image had been sourced from the website of the EPA photo agency.

The accompanying captioned read: “Behind the dome is a very large Israeli flag flying from the roof of an apartment building in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City”.

The BBC said it was “nonsense” to suggest it had superimposed the flag on the photo.

The corporation said: "This was an agency photo which showed a flag flying from a building behind the Dome.

"We realised quickly that the picture could be misunderstood and misrepresented, and given the sensitive nature of the story, we updated it with a different picture.”

At least 14 people were injured - three of them seriously - when a car was driven into pedestrians in Jerusalem.

Hamas reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.