Police storm Temple Mount
Police storm Temple MountPolice photo

The Israeli police released shocking footage of Monday's riots on the Temple Mount, demonstrating the extent to which the force must steel themselves against a horde of angry Muslim Arab rioters on Judaism's holiest site.  

In the footage, released Monday night, police are shown surrounding the main hall of the Temple Mount's Al-Aqsa mosque, where rioters barricaded themselves in with a cache of steel rods, fireworks, and other weapons. 

They are then seen battling with the rioters, firing weapons as fireworks are thrown directly at them from the mob. 

Once they finally enter the compound, the mosque is shown to be in shambles. 

Monday's rioting is the latest in a series of escalations on the Mount, which is Judaism's holiest site - but, under the iron-fisted Jordan Waqf, is largely prohibitive of Jewish visitors and bans Jewish prayer entirely.

Muslims and Christians, by contrast, have free reign on the Mount - leading to regular rioting and laments that the area has become, literally, a terror base.

Despite this, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has vowed to "maintain the status quo" on the Mount.