The Israeli police closed Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to Jewish settlers as thousands of Palestinian Muslim worshippers thronged in, a Palestinian official said.
"The Israeli police closed Al-Magharbeh Gate, through which the Jewish settlers usually force their way into the compound, due to the heavy presence of Palestinian worshippers in the site," Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, head of the Jordan-run Organization for Muslim Endowments and Al-Aqsa Affairs, told Anadolu Agency.
"Thousands of Palestinian worshippers are now entering the complex in marches through several gates of the compound, while shouting 'Allah Akbar,'" he added.
Earlier in the day, a group of Jewish settlers stormed the compound in occupied East Jerusalem under the protection of Israeli police.
The Israeli police had also imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian Muslim worshippers into the compound, barring men under the age of 50 from entering the site.
The intrusion came on the last day of Sukkot, a weeklong Jewish pilgrimage festival, during which extremist Jewish groups called for storming the holy site for the occasion.
The invitation prompted Palestinian groups, too, to call on Muslims to flock to the site.
"We asked the Israeli police yesterday to prevent the intrusions of the settlers but they declined," al-Khatib said. "Tensions are still high."
In recent months, groups of extremist Jewish settlers – usually accompanied by Israeli security forces – have repeatedly forced their way into the holy site.
For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two prominent Jewish temples in ancient times.
In September 2000, a visit to the site by controversial Israeli politician Ariel Sharon sparked what later became known as the "Second Intifada," a popular uprising against the Israeli occupation in which thousands of Palestinians were killed.
The roots of the Israel-Palestine conflict date back to 1917, when the British government, in the now-famous "Balfour Declaration," called for "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people."
Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state – a move never recognized by the international community.
Palestinians, for their part, continue to demand the establishment of an independent state in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, with East Jerusalem – currently occupied by Israel – as its capital.
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