“Forces of the so-called ‘Israeli Nature Authority’ – backed by large numbers of Israeli police – on Wednesday morning forced their way in and set up barbed wire around large areas of the Muslim cemetery,” Mustafa Abu Zahra, head of the committee for the preservation of Islamic cemeteries in Jerusalem, told Anadolu Agency.

By means of such violations, he added, the Israeli authorities sought to transform the cemetery into a “national park” for Israeli Jews.

Bab al-Rahmeh is a Muslim cemetery that dates back more than 1,400 years. It is considered one of occupied East Jerusalem’s most important historical Islamic properties.

Tension has mounted at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in recent weeks, with Israeli police preventing Muslim women, children and men under 40 from entering the mosque before 11:30am.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world’s third holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the “Temple Mount,” claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.