Hundreds of Israeli settlers entered the compound of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied east Jerusalem on Sunday under heavy security, with some performing what local sources described as provocative Jewish rituals and prayers, Al-Quds reported.
Around 570 settlers had taken part in the incursions since early morning, according to the sources, as preparations began for Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, which starts on Sunday evening.
The incidents followed a visit late Saturday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his wife and several ministers to the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem’s Old City. The area was placed under heightened security, with thousands of settlers attending gatherings that prompted authorities to close entrances to the Old City.
Netanyahu posted video footage of his visit to the Western Wall tunnels, where he asserted Israel’s exclusive claim to the site and referred to it as the “Holy of Holies”.
The developments came amid calls by groups advocating the construction of a Jewish temple at the site to increase their presence around the Al-Aqsa compound.
Israeli police and border guards were heavily deployed throughout the Old City and at its main gates, with security measures aimed at protecting settlers travelling to the Western Wall and areas near the Gate of Mercy, where organisers had called for midnight penitential prayers.
The Jerusalem governorate warned that the measures were part of efforts to impose a temporal and spatial division of the Al-Aqsa compound. Palestinian worshippers faced restrictions on access and stringent identity checks at entrances, it said.
