Around 65 Israelis, including some from illegal settler communities, were permitted to visit the site, despite warnings from Palestinian leaders that it would lead to conflict.
Worshippers responded by chanting religious slogans, with Israeli police arresting seven Palestinians.
Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh condemned the arrest.
He told official Palestinian agency WAFA that “this is a dangerous and provocative escalation that will have serious consequences.”
Abu Rudeineh called on the international community to force Israel to cease threatening the site.
Israel blamed protesters for the arrest, despite Palestinians airing strong reservations about the visit by radical Jewish settlers to Islam's third holiest site in the world.
"A group of Jewish visitors were at the Temple Mount and were targeted by shouts and insults by Palestinians," Israeli spokeswoman Luba Samri said, using the Jewish name for the holy site.
A senior Israeli politician's call for Jews to take control of the mosque two weeks ago.
Likud politician Moshe Feiglin urged party activists to "purify the site from the enemies of Israel who stole the land and build the Third Temple on the ruins of the mosques," according to The Jerusalem Post, referring to the ancient Temple of Solomon, the ruins of which are believed to lay under the mosque.
Following publication of the comments, hundreds of Palestinians marched to the site to defend it from any onslaught, with police forced to close it.
The Al-Aqsa compound is venerated by Jews as the site where King Herod's temple once stood.
A rise in Jewish hate crimes towards Palestinians, otherwise dubbed as 'price tag' attacks, has added to the tense climate.
In December, the 12th century Nebi Akasha mosque was set on fire by Jewish extremists, while Jerusalem churches have also come under attack.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/palestinians-arrested-after-provocative-israeli-tour-al-aqsa
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