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JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli rightists entered the al-Aqsa Mosque compound under armed guard on Wednesday, locals said.

Witnesses told Ma'an that 20 Israelis entered the holy site though the Moroccan Gate and toured the compound with Israeli police.

Palestinian worshipers shouted "Allah Akbar," or God is Great, at the group.

Israeli forces detained a youth identified as Omar Odeh inside the compound and took him to the Chain Gate police station.

The Al-Aqsa mosque compound, which sits just above the Western Wall plaza, houses both the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque.

The third holiest site in Islam, it is also venerated as Judaism's most holy place as it sits where Jews believe the First and Second Temples once stood. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

Following Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967, Israel has maintained an agreement with the Islamic trust that controls the Al-Aqsa compound not to allow non-Muslim prayer in the area. Jewish prayer is allowed at the neighboring Western Wall.

Israeli forces regularly escort Jewish visitors to Al-Aqsa, however, leading to tension with Palestinian worshipers.