Australian police have used pepper spray against protesters in Sydney demonstrating against Israeli President Isaac Herzog's visit to the country.

A number of people were arrested after scuffles with police officers broke out on Monday.

Herzog earlier laid a wreath and two stones from Jerusalem at Bondi Beach, the site of a mass shooting at a Jewish festival in December during which 15 people - including a 10-year-old girl - were killed.

Australia's senior Jewish leaders hope that Herzog's four-day visit will comfort a grieving community, but others have warned he should not have been invited due to allegations he has incited genocide in Gaza - a claim he denies.

The demonstration in the centre of Sydney was organised by the Palestine Action Group, despite restrictions on public protest brought in after December's shooting.

Just a few days ago, the New South Wales government introduced additional "major event" powers effectively giving police authority to shut down areas of the city, search people and impose fines of up to $5,500 (£2,839, US$3,862) for non-compliance.

Protest organisers had said the rally would still go ahead, with some 5,000 people expected.

On Monday, crowds gathered in Sydney, many wearing black-and-white Palestinian headscarves and holding placards.

"I'm not anti-semitic, I am anti-genocide," read one poster. "Arrest Herzog," read another.

When the peaceful rally ended, protesters started chanting, "Let us march" - but a heavy police presence stopped them.

There was growing frustration and the atmosphere became more tense, with pepper spray used to disperse some protesters and police reinforcements also brought in.

A protest was also held in Melbourne.

Herzog was invited to visit the country by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who said the visit would contribute to social cohesion and a "greater sense of unity" after the Bondi attack.

As he laid a wreath at the site of the mass shooting, Herzog said: "When one Jew is hurt, all Jews feel their pain."

He added that he was there to "embrace and console the bereaved families".

When asked earlier on about the planned protests, Herzog answered: "I have come here in goodwill and in a message that... Australia and Israel are close friends and allies since the days of old.

"These demonstrations in most cases, what you hear and see, comes to undermine and delegitimise our right, my nation's right... of its mere existence and it's contradictory to whatever was said and done by Australia".

The Israeli president will now travel to Canberra and Melbourne, and will also hold talks with Albanese.

Alex Ryvchin, co-chair executive of Australia's peak Jewish body, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, on Monday said Herzog's visit was warmly welcomed.

"For the victim families and for the survivors [of the Bondi attack], it means a great deal," he said. "His visit will lift the spirits of a pained community and we hope will lead to a much-needed recalibration of bilateral relations between two historic allies," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Australia last year of having "betrayed Israel" and called Albanese "weak" for recognising Palestine as a state, alongside other countries including the UK and France.

But other groups, including the Jewish Council of Australia (JCA), set up in 2024 to call out antisemitism and support Palestinian freedom, and the Australian National Imams Council, said Herzog should not have been invited.

"Inviting a foreign head of state who is implicated in an ongoing genocide as a representative of the Jewish community is deeply offensive and risks entrenching the dangerous and antisemitic conflation between Jewish identity and the actions of the Israeli state," said JCA executive officer Sarah Schwartz last week. "This does not make Jews safer. It does the opposite."

On Monday, a letter organised by the JCA and signed by 600 Australian Jews was published in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age, saying Herzog "does not speak for us and is not welcome here".

Nasser Mashni, president of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, said in a post on X the visit was a "very bitter pill to swallow" and a "dark day".

Asked about the planned protests on Sunday, Albanese said "people have a right to express their views. But I do want to make this point - that President Herzog is coming in the context of the devastating antisemitic terrorist attack that occurred at Bondi."

A UN commission last year concluded that Herzog was among Israeli leaders who "incited the commission of genocide" against Palestinians in their speeches and statements.

It came after Herzog said "it's an entire nation out there that is responsible" for the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, and was also pictured signing a shell to be dropped on Gaza. His comments formed part of the legal case brought by South Africa in the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.

Herzog has condemned the UN report, which he said took his words out of context, while the Israeli foreign minister called it "distorted and false".

The UN commission said Herzog's later clarification of his statement, that "there are many, many innocent Palestinians who don't agree" with Hamas's actions, was "provided to deflect responsibility for the initial statement".Israel denies it has committed genocide in Gaza.

Chris Sidoti, an Australian human rights lawyer and a member of the UN commission that wrote the report, on Thursday called for Herzog to be arrested, arguing the immunity traditionally granted to heads of state should not apply to "atrocity crimes" such as genocide.

Some federal MPs had also raised objections to Herzog's visit.