A large number of Israeli settlers have stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and surrounding areas in Jerusalem, waving Israeli flags, chanting, and performing Talmudic rituals, Al Jazeera reports.

Thousands gathered at the Western Wall in the early hours of the morning to perform prayers.

Settlers marched through the alleyways of Jerusalem’s Old City, going through the Muslim quarter to mark the so-called “Jerusalem Day”, which commemorates the Israeli occupation of the eastern part of the city after the 1967 war.

Thousands of heavily armed police and border police were dispatched in advance, as the settlers regularly assault, attack, and harass Palestinians and shops in the Muslim quarter.