Police say they arrested 13 people for attempting to carry out an animal sacrifice on the Temple Mount to mark the Jewish festival of Shavuot.
The suspects broke through security to the holy site and ran into the compound attempting to carry out the ritual, police say.
While the temples have not existed and Jews have not performed such sacrifices for nearly 2,000 years, small groups ascend the mount perennially to try to revive the ritual, without success.
The Temple Mount, revered by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, is Judaism’s holiest site and one of the holiest sites in Islam, and has long been a flashpoint for conflict. Public Jewish prayer (and animal sacrifice) is prohibited there. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a frequent visitor to the site, has pushed to change the ban on prayer, prompting fury in the Muslim world and denials from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the status quo has changed.
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