LONDON: Israeli settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the walled city of East Jerusalem 26 times in August, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Religious Endowments and Affairs. Settlers entered the site through the Israel-controlled Moroccan Gate. They were accompanied by Israeli forces while they performed Jewish rituals in the courtyards and exited the site through the Chain Gate, according to the Palestinian News and Information Agency, known as WAFA. Awqaf warned that far-right Knesset member Simcha Rotman, head of the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, recently called for settlers to be allowed to blow the shofar, a Jewish ritual horn, there during the holiday period, which begins with the Jewish New Year on Sept. 11. Al-Aqsa compound, Islam’s third-holiest site, also known as Al-Haram Al-Sharif, has been the site of frequent conflicts — including raids by Israeli settlers and restrictions on Muslim worshippers — since East Jerusalem was occupied in June 1967. Settlers, who refer to the area as the Temple Mount, seek to establish a presence in the compound to perform Jewish prayers at certain times. Several far-right ministers and Knesset members in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government have publicly endorsed the plans.