Turkey condemns 'unacceptable' Israeli attack on Al-Aqsa mosque

Turkey on Wednesday denounced Israel's violent attack on the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying Israel had crossed a "red line".

"Turkey cannot stay silent in the face of these attacks. Trampling on the Al-Aqsa mosque is our red line," Erdogan said during an iftar dinner for those breaking daytime fasting, a practice for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

"Palestinians are not alone," he added.

Israeli police brutally attacked Palestinians inside the site on Wednesday, injuring and arresting hundreds.

The attack was met with nine rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, with Israeli forces bombing and shelling the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Erdogan's comments followed earlier criticism made by his Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

"We condemn these attacks," Cavusoglu said on the margins of a NATO gathering in Brussels.

"Normalisation with Israel has begun, but our commitment cannot be at the expense of the Palestinian cause and our principles," he added, noting that "these attacks have exceeded the limit".

The Al-Aqsa mosque is the third most holy site in Islam and has been subjected to frequent raids by Israeli security forces and Jewish extremists, some of whom perform provocative rituals at the site.