Dozens of illegal Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem on the fifth day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan on Sunday, Palestinian media reported.
Illegal settlers entered the flashpoint site and performed Talmudic and provocative rituals in the mosque courtyards under the protection of Israeli police, the official news agency Wafa said.
The agency said the settler incursion was part of a series of repeated Israeli measures "to make demographic changes at the mosque and East Jerusalem," Wafa said.
Palestinian residents of occupied East Jerusalem are frequently subjected to harassment during settler raids, including physical assaults on worshippers and restrictions on access to the mosque.
Ramadan began on Wednesday in several Arab and Muslim countries, including Palestine.
Each year during Ramadan, Israel imposes heightened security measures in occupied East Jerusalem and its surroundings, imposing tight restrictions on Palestinian access to Al-Aqsa.
Israeli police first permitted settler incursions into the mosque compound in 2003, despite repeated calls from the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem to halt them.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area Temple Mount, claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
Palestinians view occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, as the capital of their future state, while Israel considers Jerusalem, including both its eastern and western sectors, its capital.
