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Around 1,300 Israeli settlers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Thursday morning as they marked the Jewish holiday of Tisha B'Av, according to the Jerusalem Governorate.
The holiday commemorates what Jews refer to as the destruction of the Temple.
The governorate said on Facebook that Israeli police allowed the number of settlers entering the compound in each group to increase to about 150.
Israeli forces imposed tight restrictions at the mosque's gates and around Jerusalem's Old City, deploying heavily across its courtyards and preventing Palestinian worshippers from entering, it added.
Only a very limited number of Palestinians managed to reach the mosque for dawn prayers before Israeli forces assaulted several worshippers and other residents, the statement said.
The governorate said settlers "performed Talmudic rituals during the incursions, including wearing tefillin, carrying out full prostrations in the eastern section of the compound and chanting loudly."
It added that extremist groups advocating the construction of a Jewish temple at the site were mobilizing supporters in an effort to bring 5,000 settlers into the compound during Thursday's incursions.
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Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims.
Jews refer to the area as the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa Mosque is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.
It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move not recognized by the international community.
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