Hundreds of Jewish settlers stormed into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem, a Palestinian agency reported Monday.
Nearly 560 settlers stormed the flashpoint site under heavy police protection, the Islamic Endowment Department that oversees the mosque compound said in a statement.
The settlers toured the complex for about three and a half hours before leaving the site, the statement added.
Ahead of the settler incursion, Israeli police forced Muslim worshipers to evacuate the mosque’s courtyards, according to eyewitnesses.
Tension has mounted across the Palestinian territories since Israeli forces raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard on Friday amid clashes with worshippers, injuring hundreds. On Sunday, more than 700 Israeli settlers forced their way into the complex to celebrate the weeklong Jewish Passover holiday.
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.
Two Palestinians were critically injured by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Monday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, the latest incident in a wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The Israeli military was conducting an arrest raid in the village of Yamun, west of Jenin in the northern West Bank, when dozens of Palestinians started throwing rocks and explosives at the troops, who returned fire.
"The soldiers responded with live ammunition toward the suspects who hurled explosive devices. Hits were identified," the Israeli military said in a statement.
The two wounded men were hospitalized, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
The Israeli military said it arrested 11 Palestinians in raids across the West Bank overnight on Monday.
Israel has sent forces to search through Palestinian cities and villages in search of suspects or accomplices linked to two deadly attacks on Israelis in recent weeks.
At least 25 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in recent weeks, according to an Associated Press (AP) count. Many had carried out attacks or were involved in the clashes, but an unarmed woman and a lawyer who appears to have been a bystander were also among those killed.
Israel captured East Jerusalem, home to Al-Aqsa and other major holy sites, in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community. Palestinians want the eastern part of the city to be the capital of a future independent state including the West Bank and Gaza, which Israel also captured during the war nearly 55 years ago.
