A record number of Jews for a single month have visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem during the festivals - an area that Israel’s Chief Rabbinate still regards as religiously out of bounds.

According to the Times of Israel, more than 6,000 Jewish visitors since the start of Rosh Hashanah have gone up to the site of the former Temple, where the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque now stand, compared to the 5,981 over the same period last year.

Israel Hayom has reported that for the first time, the annual number of Jewish visitors reached 50,000.

The Orthodox rabbinic establishment continues to oppose Jews going to the site for fear that they entered the boundaries of the Temple in a ritually impure state.

But in recent years, a growing movement within Israel has tried to encourage such visits, despite strong Palestinian opposition. Hamas, which has promotes itself as a defender of Muslim holy places, has warned of “violent repercussions”.

Although Israel captured the compound in the Six-Day War in 1967, it allowed the Jordanian-appointed waqf to retain control of access.

The Israeli government acceded to Muslim sensitivities by prohibiting Jews from praying at the site.

On Jerusalem Day this year, which celebrates the reunification of the city, 2,600 Jews visited the Temple Mount, a record for a day.

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