JERUSALEM, October 18, 2016 (WAFA) – Around 200 Jewish fanatics Tuesday held provocative tours of Al-Aqsa Mosque, a sacred Muslim ground,  in Jerusalem’s Old City heeding calls by extremist organizations to increase Jewish presence on the holy site during the Jewish holidays, according to Muslim officials.

The Muslim Waqf, which runs the al-Haram al-Sharif (holy sanctuary) compound, the location of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, said worshippers kept a close eye at the fanatics to make sure they do not perform illegal religious rituals on the site.

Beefed up police escorts kept a distance between the fanatics and the Muslim worshippers to prevent any confrontations between them.

The Jewish groups claim al-Haram al-Sharif is the location of the Jewish temples destroyed thousands of years ago and call it Temple Mount.

Muslims contest this claim and say that years of Jewish excavations under and around the holy site had never revealed any evidence of a Jewish temple at that location.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Thursday voted in favor of a resolution condemning Israeli interference in the affairs of Al-Aqsa Mosque, which it recognized as a solely Muslim holy site.

M.A.