JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL

Scores of illegal Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Monday to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

Illegal settlers performed Talmudic rituals at the flashpoint site under the protection of Israeli police, according to an Anadolu correspondent.

The eight-day Hanukkah holiday is marked from Dec. 14 until 22.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area Temple Mount, claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.