JERUSALEM, April 11, 2016 (WAFA) – Extremist Israeli settlers Monday resumed their provocative tours to al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, amid calls by Jewish organizations for mass visits to the holy site to mark the beginning of the Jewish Passover holiday.

WAFA correspondent said small groups of Jewish settlers accompanied by policemen entered the compound from the Moroccan Gate, provoking tension with Palestinian worshipers, who chanted religious slogans to protest their entry.

In recent years, the site witnessed renewing clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian worshipers, prompted by the entry of Jewish fanatics who organize provocative visits to the site to mark Jewish holidays and perform rituals.

While the site is widely known as Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jews refer to it as the “Temple Mount” and believe it was the site of two Jewish temples destroyed in ancient times.

Entry of Jews to the holy site, coupled by other factors, recently fueled a growing Palestinian uprising in Jerusalem and the West Bank districts as well as in the 1948 lands, with more than 205 Palestinians killed by Israeli army and security forces.

M.N