Hawzah News Agency – Israeli forces raided al-Aqsa Mosque early on Tuesday for a fourth time in a week, clearing out Palestinian worshippers to allow entry for Israeli settlers marking the Jewish festival of Passover.

Large number of officers were deployed in the courtyards of the mosque's complex, forcing out Palestinians and closing the doors of the prayer halls with people inside them.

Israeli forces fired tear gas towards the main Qibli prayer hall and forcefully cleared out women from its surrounding to secure the way for settlers to come in.

Guarded by the heavily-armed officers, several groups of around 40 settlers then stormed al-Aqsa through the Mughrabi Gate, toured the courtyards and performed prayers on the eastern side of the complex.

Far-right Israeli activists and settler groups had announced plans to storm al-Aqsa this week in large numbers, starting from Sunday, to mark Passover.

Israeli forces also set up checkpoints around Old Jerusalem and the roads leading to the gates of al-Aqsa Mosque. Palestinians were prevented from entering the mosque to perform dawn prayers, and some were attacked by Israeli forces near Yusufiya cemetery, a few metres away from al-Aqsa.

Tuesday’s attack marks the fourth storming by Israeli forces on al-Aqsa Mosque since the start of the holy month of Ramadan. Hundreds of Palestinians have been arrested and wounded in the violent crackdowns, including medics and journalists.

Attack on Gaza

Also on Tuesday morning, Israeli jets attacked the southern Gaza Strip after intercepting a rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave into Israel.

The Israeli military said it destroyed an arms manufacturing workshop belonging to Hamas. The movement said it had responded with anti-aircraft weapons, but did not hit the Israeli jets. No injuries from the raid were reported.

"Congratulations to the men of the resistance who confronted the fighter jets with our anti-aircraft defence," Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a statement, claiming the Israeli raid hit "empty sites".

No Palestinian faction claimed responsibility for the rocket fire, the first attack into Israel in months, that was intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome air defence.

Israel's "strike of empty targets is a failed attempt to stop the Palestinian people from protecting Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque," Qassem said.

In the last month, violence spiked in Israel and Palestine. Five attacks inside Israel by Palestinians have killed 14 people, while the Israeli army increased its near-daily arrest raids and other military operations in the occupied West Bank, killing 19 Palestinians in April alone.

At least 48 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the year.

On Monday, a 19-year-old Palestinian died after succumbing to gunshot wounds she sustained during an Israeli raid in Jenin earlier this month.