A record number of Jews — approximately 1,600 — visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem during the seven-day Passover holiday this year, breaking last year’s record of 1,015 during the same time, according to non-profit organisation Yirah.
Additionally, a record number of Jewish visits to the Temple Mount in a single day — 495 — also occurred during the Passover holiday. That exceeded the previous record of 448 visits set during last year’s Sukkot festivities.
The highest number of Jewish visits to the Temple Mount was also set during Sukkot 2016, with 1,611 recorded visits to the site.
The Jordanian Islamic Waqf tightly controls access to the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, under an arrangement established following the 1967 Six-Day War, when Israel gained control of the area. Non-Muslim visitors are only allowed to ascend during very specific times during the week and the entrance may be closed without notice, even when scheduled to be open.
The status quo currently maintained at the sensitive hilltop compound forbids non-Muslim prayer and open demonstrations of worship.
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