Police extended visiting hours for Jewish worshipers on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem by an hour more than is customary during Ramadan on Wednesday, the first day of the Islamic holy month.

The change comes as Israel has repeatedly shifted norms on the flashpoint holy site where the Biblical Jewish temples stood and that today houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock Shrine under far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

Jewish visitors were able to ascend the flashpoint holy site in the morning from 6:30 to 11:30 a.m., following pressure from activists. In previous years, visiting hours during Ramadan were from 7 to 11 a.m, with the Al-Aqsa compound completely closed to Jewish visitors throughout the afternoon.

The extra hour was allotted as “compensation” for the site’s afternoon closure, Haaretz reported.

The Palestinian Authority denounced the departure from the status quo as a “dangerous escalation” and warned that the extra hour may morph into a permanent policy extending beyond Ramadan, in a statement quoted by Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu.

A spokesman for Beyadenu, an organization dedicated to cementing a Jewish presence at the site, said the extra hour was a “slight concession” following meetings between Temple Mount activists and senior police officers in the Jerusalem District.

He noted that Wednesday is the first day of the Hebrew month of Adar, and claimed that over 1,000 Jewish worshipers ascended the Temple Mount in the morning and night prior to mark the occasion.

Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Non-Muslim prayer has, until recently, been forbidden atop the Temple Mount due to a string of agreements known as the status quo between Israel and Jordan, which administers the site through the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf.

While in the past, police would eject or detain Jewish visitors caught praying on the Temple Mount, this policy has largely fallen to the wayside over the past three years under Ben Gvir, who has repeatedly demanded that police allow Jews to pray there.

Jewish visitors have been permitted in recent years to pray and prostrate themselves in the eastern part of the complex, but are still forbidden from visiting the site during certain hours, and cannot pray near the Dome of the Rock.

In January, Deputy Commissioner Avshalom Peled, a confidant of Ben Gvir, was appointed to the sensitive position of Jerusalem District commander.

Peled, who formerly served as deputy police chief, replaced Deputy Commissioner Amir Arzani, who went on leave under reported pressure from Ben Gvir, after he pushed back against the far-right minister’s attempts to further relax Jewish prayer restrictions on the Mount.

Two weeks after Peled began his role in the district, police began allowing Jewish worshipers to ascend the Temple Mount with printed prayer sheets, in a further challenge to regulations barring non-Muslim prayer at the site.

Police appeared to confirm their official sanction of non-Muslim prayer in a statement at the time that stressed that officers work to “enable freedom of worship and visitation at the Temple Mount for all religions and communities.”

Also Wednesday, Israel announced that it will cap the number of Palestinian worshipers from the West Bank attending weekly Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque at 10,000 during Ramadan.

Israeli authorities also imposed age restrictions on West Bank Palestinians, permitting entry only to men aged 55 and older, women aged 50 and older, and children up to age 12.

“Ten thousand Palestinian worshipers will be permitted to enter the Temple Mount for Friday prayers throughout the month of Ramadan, subject to obtaining a dedicated daily permit in advance,” COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry agency in charge of civilian matters in the Palestinian territories, said in a statement.

“Entry for men will be permitted from age 55, for women from age 50, and for children up to age 12 when accompanied by a first-degree relative.”

COGAT told AFP that the restrictions apply only to Palestinians travelling from the West Bank and not to Muslim Arab Israelis.

“It is emphasized that all permits are conditional upon prior security approval by the relevant security authorities,” COGAT said.

“In addition, residents travelling to prayers at the Temple Mount will be required to undergo digital documentation at the crossings upon their return to the areas of Judea and Samaria at the conclusion of the prayer day,” it said, using the Biblical term for the West Bank.

During Ramadan, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians traditionally attend prayers at Al‑Aqsa, Islam’s third‑holiest site.

Since the war in Gaza broke out after the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre,  the attendance of worshipers has declined due to security concerns and Israeli restrictions.

The Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate said this week that Israeli authorities had prevented the Islamic Waqf — the Jordanian‑run body that administers the site — from carrying out routine preparations ahead of Ramadan, including installing shade structures and setting up temporary medical clinics.

A senior imam of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Muhammad al-Abbasi, told AFP that he, too, had been barred from entering the compound.

“I have been barred from the mosque for a week, and the order can be renewed,” he said.

Abbasi said he was not informed of the reason for the ban, which came into effect on Monday.

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