LONDON: Hundreds of Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday, as part of Jewish New Year celebrations, which continue until Wednesday, the Waqf Department reported.

Former Knesset member Rabbi Yehuda Glick entered the site wearing traditional Torah attire, accompanying settlers who sang religious songs, performed Talmudic and Torah rituals, and engaged in group clapping and dancing in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa, the Wafa news agency reported.

Israeli authorities enforced strict entry restrictions on Palestinians on Tuesday morning, checking their IDs and confiscating some at the Al-Aqsa gates as settlers toured the site. The Jewish New Year has increased tensions amid heightened Israeli security and movement restrictions for Palestinians in the Old City of Jerusalem, Wafa reported.

“These incursions are part of the (Israeli) occupation’s efforts to obliterate the Islamic and historical identity of Jerusalem and threaten Islamic sovereignty over Al-Aqsa Mosque,” the Waqf Department said.

Waqf said Israeli settlers are attempting to impose temporal and spatial divisions in Al-Aqsa compound, exacerbating tensions in Jerusalem.

Since 1967, the Jerusalem Endowments Council, known also as the Waqf, which operates under Jordan’s Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, is the legal authority responsible for managing and regulating the affairs of Al-Aqsa.

However, this status quo has been challenged in recent years by extremist settlers who regularly tour the site under the protection of Israeli police and are often accompanied by government officials and far-right ministers and activists.