Israel removed metal detectors from entrances to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City yesterday in favor of CCTV cameras, but Palestinians said the modified security measures are still unacceptable as it changes the status quo at the holy site.

Palestinians base their objection to any new security measures at the holy site on the insistence that a delicate balance of prayer and visiting rights be preserved. They have argued new security measures alter the status quo by strengthening Israeli control over the site.

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and the senior Muslim cleric who oversees the Al-Aqsa compound both turned down the new Israeli measures and demanded all of them be removed.

"We reject all obstacles that hinder freedom of worship and we demand the return to the situation where things stood before July 14," Hamdallah told his cabinet in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The Waqf, the religious body that runs the Islamic sites in the Al-Aqsa compound, said worshippers would continue to stay away from the elevated, marble-and-stone plaza and pray in the streets outside. A Waqf spokesman said it was awaiting a decision of a technical committee but was demanding the situation revert to the way it was before July 14, when the metal detectors were installed.

Thousands of Palestinians have been taking to the streets daily for a mixture of prayer and non-violent protest in the mosque's vicinity since the new security measures were introduced more than a week ago after a two-day closure of the mosque following an attack that killed two Israeli police officers and three suspects who were all Palestinian Israeli citizens.

Pressure to reach a solution over the crisis mounted after a bloody weekend when four Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli forces and three Israelis killed in a stabbing attack inside their home in a settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had decided to keep the metal detectors during a previous meeting last Thursday, despite concerns about the potential for violence as thousands of worshippers prayed in the streets during Friday's weekly congregational prayers. Israel installed the detectors at entry points to Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem after two police guards were fatally shot on July 14, setting off the bloodiest clashes between Israelis and Palestinians in years.

Israel made the highly unusual decision to close Al-Aqsa Mosque for Friday prayers, drawing anger from Muslims and rulers in Jordan, the custodial authority over the holy site. The mosque was closed and Friday prayers canceled for the first time since Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, after gunshots rang out from inside the compound on Friday morning killing two Israeli police officers as well as the three alleged Palestinian attackers.

The Temple Mount is central to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Palestinians fearing Israel may one day seek to assert further control over it. It is located in east Jerusalem which was occupied by Israel in 1967 and later annexed in a move never recognized by the international community. It is considered the third holiest site in Islam and the most sacred site in Judaism. Jews are allowed to visit the compound but cannot pray there to avoid provoking tensions.