Jerusalem: Hundreds of Israeli colonists have entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem under the protection of Israeli security forces, Palestinian officials said.

According to Qatar News Agency, at least 548 colonists entered the compound on Tuesday, where they performed religious rituals described by Palestinian sources as provocative, while Israeli police were deployed across the site.

The Al-Aqsa compound is one of the most sensitive religious sites in the Middle East. It is sacred to Muslims, who consider it the third holiest site in Islam.

Palestinians said repeated colonist visits are part of broader Israeli efforts to change the character of the site and impose a temporal and spatial division of the compound.