The Palestinian al-Quds governorate said about 570 settlers had entered the compound by 10 a.m. local time, performing Talmudic rituals and what it described as “epic prostrations” to mark Yom Kippur.
Meanwhile, Israeli regime prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited tunnels beneath the Old City and the Western Wall, known to Muslims as the al-Buraq Wall, on Saturday evening.
Netanyahu later posted photographs and videos showing him participating in Jewish “Selichot” prayers at the site.
In one video, Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are shown passing through an excavation tunnel beneath the Western Wall while prayers were taking place.
“Well, we are in the tunnels at the al-Buraq Wall. It is moving to touch the rock of our existence. We are here very close to the Holy of Holies. We are here, and we will always remain here,” Netanyahu stated.
The visit came days after Israeli regime national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and other officials entered the Al-Aqsa compound ahead of Yom Kippur.
Hamas condemned the latest developments, saying Netanyahu’s visit to the tunnels and excavations beneath the site constituted an attack on the identity and status of Al-Aqsa.
“The storming by Benjamin Netanyahu, against whom an arrest warrant has been issued by the International Criminal Court, of the tunnels and excavations beneath the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the al-Buraq Wall, and the provocative statements and false claims accompanying it about the so-called Holy of Holies, represents a blatant attack on the identity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and its status, and a provocation to the feelings of our Palestinian people and the Arab and Islamic nations,” the group said.
At the same time, Israeli regime excavation and archaeological works beneath occupied East al-Quds have remained controversial, with critics disputing claims that the works are intended to establish evidence linked to the Second Temple.
Palestinians and some experts have also described the excavations and settlement expansion as efforts to consolidate Israeli regime control over occupied East al-Quds.