JERUSALEM 

Israeli authorities have detained a guard at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and temporarily banned two other Palestinians from entering the flashpoint site, a Palestinian official said Monday.

“Police arrested Ahmad Oweis, an Al-Aqsa guard, from inside the mosque compound,” Firas al-Dibs, a spokesman for Jerusalem’s Religious Endowments Authority (a Jordan-run agency mandated with overseeing the city’s Muslim and Christian holy sites), told Anadolu Agency.

According to al-Dibs, Israeli police also temporarily banned two other Palestinians from entering the site.

“Mohamed Daqaq was banned [from entering the Al-Aqsa compound] for six months, while Netham Abu Ramouz was banned for a four-month period,” he said.

Tension at Al-Aqsa has mounted in recent days after a series of Palestinian protests and the subsequent arrest of dozens of Palestinian activists.

One week ago, Israeli police shut the mosque compound’s Al-Rahma Gate, preventing Palestinian worshippers from entering the site and sparking angry demonstrations.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, in which the 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.

In late 2000, a visit to Al-Aqsa by controversial Israeli politician Ariel Sharon sparked what later became known as the "Second Intifada," a five-year-long popular uprising in which thousands of Palestinians were killed.