President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday held a phone call with his Israeli counterpart, Isaac Herzog, expressing his sadness over the recent violence in the West Bank and Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

In a tweet, Erdoğan said the two leaders had discussed the recent events caused by "some radical Israeli groups and security forces" in the call amid efforts to normalize ties between the two countries.

His remarks came after at least 152 Palestinians were wounded in clashes with Israeli riot police inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Friday, the latest outbreak in an upsurge of violence that has raised fears of a slide back to wider conflict.

"We are deeply saddened by the fact that more than 400 Palestinians were injured and 18 people, including children, lost their lives in the events that took place in the West Bank and Al-Aqsa Mosque since the beginning of the month of Ramadan," Erdoğan said.

He said he told Herzog "the fact that Al-Aqsa Mosque was raided by fanatic groups after the morning prayer yesterday and the day before ... and the spread of the tension to Gaza increased our sadness."

Earlier in the day, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said, "we are continuing our contacts in response to the unacceptable attacks by Israeli security forces in the West Bank and Al-Aqsa."

Erdoğan said that "these images which are seen every year because of some radicals hurt the consciences and cause justifiable reactions in the entire Islamic world."

He told the Israeli president: "In this sensitive period, I would like to emphasize once again the necessity of not allowing provocations and threats against the status and spirituality of Al-Aqsa Mosque."

The Turkish leader reiterated his call for everyone to "make the utmost effort to preserve the spirituality and sanctity of this blessed place and these (blessed) days."

Erdoğan had on Sunday condemned Israel's intervention and on late Monday called it "really a source of sadness" for Turkey.

"We never want to go through this," he stressed. "I hope that we will not go through this again in the process that follows."

"We support all kinds of normalization steps that will contribute to the formation of a belt of peace and stability in our immediate environment," Erdoğan said.

Also in a phone conversation with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday, Erdoğan said he strongly condemned the Israeli intervention on Muslim worshippers as he reiterated Turkey's determination to stand in solidarity with Palestine amid the violence.

Turkey has in the past launched various initiatives within the United Nations and Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) against Israeli actions towards Palestinian and its policies regarding East Jerusalem or its status.

Tension has mounted across the Palestinian territories since Israeli forces raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard on Friday amid clashes with worshippers, injuring hundreds.

On Sunday, more than 700 Israeli settlers forced their way into the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex under heavy police protection to celebrate the weeklong Jewish Passover holiday, which started on Friday.

Al-Aqsa is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

The holy site, which is sacred to Jews and Muslims, has often been the epicenter of Israeli-Palestinian unrest, and tensions were already heightened amid a recent wave of violence. Clashes at the site last year helped spark an 11-day war with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognized by the international community.

Most of the Palestinian injuries were incurred from rubber bullets, stun grenades and beatings with police batons, the Palestine Red Crescent said.

Tensions this year have been heightened in part by the Islamic holy month of Ramadan coinciding with the Jewish celebration of Passover.

Erdoğan's comments come amid efforts by Turkey and Israel in recent months to normalize their long-strained ties.

Regional rivals expelled ambassadors in 2018 and have often traded barbs over the Palestinian conflict and other issues.

Turkey, which supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has said it believes a rapprochement with Israel will also help find a solution to the issue but that it would not abandon commitments to Palestinians for better ties with Israel.

Earlier this month, Erdoğan had told Herzog, whom he also met in Ankara last month, that Ankara expected Israeli authorities to be sensitive over Al-Aqsa during Ramadan and stressed the importance of allowing Palestinians to enter Israel.