Since Oct. 1, Israeli forces or settlers have killed 66 Palestinians.

JERUSALEM — Right-wing political leaders and groups have called for Israel to exercise control over the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound as the Israeli government takes harsh measures to quell ongoing Palestinian unrest. 

Returning to the Mount, a hardline right-wing Zionist organization, announced this week that it would pay 2,000 shekels ($516) to Jewish-Israelis detained while praying at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the third holiest site for Muslims. 

Jewish groups refer to the site as the Temple Mount. Their increased incursions into the mosque compound have triggered Palestinian protests across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. 

Although formally banned from praying there, Israeli provocateurs enjoy police escorts when they venture into the compound. 

Speaking to Israel’s Channel 2 on Tuesday, Raphael Morris, head of Returning to the Mount, accused the Israeli government of imposing “ruthless restrictions” on Jewish Israelis.

The group’s Facebook is full of posts calling for Israel to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and raise a Jewish temple in its place. 

These fever-pitch calls come at a time when Palestinian protests against Israel’s ongoing occupation and harsh policies are growing in frequency in Palestinian communities in Israel and in the West Bank and Gaza. 

Protesters have met force, with Israeli soldiers using live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas and stun grenades. 

Since Oct. 1, Israeli forces or settlers have killed 66 Palestinians, including unarmed protesters, bystanders and alleged attackers.

More than 1,000 Palestinians, among them children, have been arrested this month, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club. 

During that same period, nine Israelis were killed by Palestinians in stabbing or shooting attacks. 

Also on Tuesday, Israeli Deputy Minister Tzipi Hotovely — a member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ultra-nationalist Likud party — referred to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound as “the center of Israeli sovereignty, the capital of Israel.”

“It is my dream to see the Israeli flag flying” over Al-Aqsa, she told Knesset TV, the Israeli parliament’s television channel, in an interview.