Jews returned to the Temple Mount compound Monday for the first time since three Israeli-Arab terrorists shot dead two police officers on Friday morning. Several dozen Jews toured the Mount without Muslim escorts as officials from the Islamic trust, known in Arabic as the Waqf, which administers the site continued their boycott over new security procedures instituted following the attack. Some media reports also reported the Jews prayed outside the Dome of the Rock, in contradiction of Waqf rules that prohibit non-Islamic prayer at the site. TPS could not confirm the report.

Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld would not confirm the number of Jews who visited the site or whether or not they were accompanied by Waqf personnel. Responding to a text message request for details about the morning’s events, Rosenfeld said only that “security measures continue today in and around the old city and the Temple Mount,” and that “regular visits took place this morning.”

Pictures and videos posted on Facebook by Temple Mount activists show the site looking relatively empty and quiet. The activists described the atmosphere at the site as “pastoral” and posted  pictures and videos of the morning with few Muslims or Arabs around. They said the visit was overseen by Jerusalem Police Commander Yoram Halevi.

Sunday, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan wrote on Twitter that the Waqf opposition to the new security measures “did not stem from the police demand that Waqf officials had to go through the metal detectors, but rather from the Waqf’s opposition to the metal detector’s very existence. This is the reason for the delay in re-opening the Mount. Some Muslims did enter the Mount to pray despite Waqf calls [not to submit to Israeli security measures to enter the site].

“Waqf officials want to prevent people coming to pray from entering through gates where metal detectors have been posted,” Erdan wrote.