The organization that coordinates visits by Jews to the Temple Mount said on Saturday night that the Israel Police have informed them that the Temple Mount will be closed to Jewish visitors "until further notice" due to clashes between Arabs and Israeli security forces in recent days.
It was expected that the police were going to keep Jews from visiting the site until the end of the Muslim Ramadan holiday, but the statement issued to the Temple Mount Administration indicated that the closure may last longer.
The Administration added that Jewish prayers will be held at the gates of the Temple Mount and next to the Western, Southern, Eastern and Northern Walls of the Temple Mount. Any updates to opening hours of the Temple Mount for Jewish visitors will be published on the social media and WhatsApp groups of the Temple Mount Administration.
A record 4,625 Jewish visitors entered the Temple Mount during the Passover holiday. Earlier this week, authorities had stated that the Temple Mount would be closed to Jewish visitors until the end of Ramadan. A similar announcement about the closure of the site "until further notice" was made by the Temple Mount Administration last year during Operation Guardian of the Walls. The site was reopened to Jewish visitors after about a week.
Violent clashes have broken out between Arabs and Israeli security forces at the Temple Mount and al-Aqsa Mosque in recent days, as Muslims celebrated Ramadan and Jews celebrated Passover.
Arabs at the site placed large stones and broken glass on the path taken by Jewish visitors in an attempt to block and harm them. Israeli forces entered the site early in the mornings in the past week in order to secure the site for Jewish visitors, pushing Arabs at the site into al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock. Arab rioters launched fireworks and threw rocks and Molotov cocktails towards security forces at the site.