Multiple projectiles were allegedly fired from the blockaded Gaza Strip while Israeli settlers forced their way into the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Thursday.

The Israeli army claimed it detected a number of rockets fired from Gaza but that all failed to cross into Israel.

In a statement, the Israeli army said a total of seven projectiles it detected were surface-to-air rockets, all of which exploded in the air, adding that two of them were fired in the direction of the Mediterranean Sea and the others toward Israeli areas.

Air-raid sirens were activated in the settlement areas adjacent to Gaza, it added.

Earlier Wednesday, the army said two projectiles were fired from Gaza, with one failing to cross into Israel and the other landed in an open area near the fence with Gaza.

The rocket fires came as Israeli settlers forced their way into the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem, according to Anadolu Agency (AA).

According to eyewitnesses, police were deployed in the courtyards of the compound to secure the settlers.

Israeli authorities began restricting Palestinians under 40 years old from entering the site before the Muslim morning prayer, the eyewitnesses said.

The measure was met by hundreds of Palestinian young people performing morning prayers in the streets near the mosque.

Israeli police had for a second time raided Al-Aqsa mosque on Wednesday evening, forcibly removing worshippers.

Several extremist settler groups called for incursions into the Al-Aqsa mosque complex to mark the weeklong Jewish holiday of Passover, which began on April 5.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents Islam's third-holiest site. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

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.