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JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- The Israeli police assaulted Palestinian worshipers near an Al-Aqsa mosque compound gate Thursday, detaining two Palestinians.

Sources told Ma'an that the Israeli police assaulted women and men going to pray at Al-Aqsa near the Chain Gate, where a group of Israelis were leaving the compound.

Witnesses said that the Israeli police also detained youths Tamer Shalaata and Taher Sheikh Khalil, who were taken to the Chain Gate police station for interrogation.

An Israeli police spokesperson did not immediately return a request for information on the incident.

While Israel agreed following occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967 that the Islamic trust is to control the Al-Aqsa compound, and non-Muslim prayer would not be allowed in the area, Israelis regularly visit the site accompanied by Israeli security forces.

Twenty Israelis reportedly entered the holy site Wednesday with Israeli police and one Palestinian was detained by Israeli forces.

Israeli security is vamped up across Jerusalem as Israelis marked Holocaust Remembrance Day and Memorial Day earlier this week, and Independence Day today.

The Western Wall, which neighbors the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, is the epicenter for Jewish prayer and ceremony during the national holidays, bringing higher than normal levels of Israeli security into the area.