JERUSALEM, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Some 2,000 Israelis, mainly ultra-nationalist activists, visited the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem on Sunday, sparking verbal clashes with Palestinians worshipers, the Israeli police said.
The Jewish visitors, including Itamar Ben-Gvir, a lawmaker and the leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, entered the compound in the morning under heavy police guard to mark the Jewish holiday of Tisha B'Av.
At least six Palestinians were arrested, the Israeli police said in a statement, adding that two of them were detained for spraying pepper gas at Israeli visitors.
Video footage on social media showed several Jews starting to pray in defiance of Israeli regulations that allow Israelis to visit the holy site but not to pray there. Police officers were seen removing them from the area as Muslim worshippers shouted in protest.
A handful of Jewish visitors were detained for violating the terms of the visit by loudly praying, the Times of Israel reported.
Several Arab countries condemned the visits.
Jordan, the custodian of the site, urged Israel to respect the sanctity of the compound and to "halt measures aimed at altering the historical and legal status quo."
Jordan's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Haitham Abou Al-Foul on Sunday stressed that these violations represent a dangerous trend and irresponsible behavior that exacerbates tension and pushes the situation into a continuous cycle of violence, according to a statement by the ministry.
The Palestinians consider these visits to the site, which is holy to both Muslims and Jews, as provocative and insulting.
The visits came amid a major flare-up in the Gaza Strip as Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the besieged Palestinian enclave have been exchanging fire since Friday. The fighting killed at least 31 Palestinians, including six children and four women, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza.
Israel seized East Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Middle East war. It annexed East Jerusalem shortly after the war, claiming it part of its "indivisible capital," in a move that has never been recognized by most of the international community.
Clashes at the site fueled the war between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers in May 2021. ■
