Scores of Israeli settlers forced their way into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Thursday to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, according to a Palestinian agency.
In a statement, the Jordan-run Jerusalem Islamic Endowment Department said 249 settlers escorted by Israeli police entered the flashpoint site in groups through Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Israeli lawmaker Nissim Vaturi from the right-wing Likud Party was among those who visited the site, according to eyewitnesses.
Meanwhile, the Israeli police barred Muslim worshippers under 40-year-old from entering the mosque.
Jewish groups have called on supporters to converge on the Al-Aqsa complex to celebrate the eight-day Hanukkah holiday, which started on Dec. 18.
For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third-holiest site. Jews, for their part, call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognized by the international community.
