Israeli legislators - Enter al-Aqsa Mosque Compound.
Israeli policeman escorts Yehuda Glick (centre), as he visits the al-Aqsa compound.
Accompanied by heavily-armed police, Yehuda Glick, of Netanyahu's Likud party, and Shuli Mualem-Rafaeli, of the Jewish Home, went to the site early on Tuesday as part of a one-day trial period.
Palestinian leaders condemned the move, with Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for the Palestinian presidency, saying that the Israeli government was responsible for the provocations at the compound.
Masud Ganaim, a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, also said allowing right-wing politicians into the complex had "the goal of provoking Arab and Muslim sentiment and inflaming the situation".
Netanyahu instructed police in October 2015 to bar members of the Knesset, or MKs, from visiting the site in the Old City of Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, in a move meant to help calm unrest that erupted in part over Palestinian fears that Israel was planning to assert further control over the compound.
Only Muslim prayer is currently allowed at the site, which is administered by a Jordanian-controlled Islamic authority.
Palestinians accuse the Israeli government of attempting to change the "status quo" of the area by allowing Jewish prayer and asserting Israeli control over the holy compound, which Israel denies.
Two weeks ago Palestinians protested night and day for refusing to pray inside the compound after Israel installed metal detectors at its entrances. They held prayers in the streets and just outside the gates to the Old City.
The new regulations came after an attack on July 14 by three Palestinian citizens of Israel, who killed two Israeli policemen in the Old City of Jerusalem. The three men were then chased inside the compound before they were shot and killed.
In 13 days of protests, Israeli forces wounded more than 1,000 Palestinians during clashes, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
On July 26, Israeli authorities removed the surveillance equipment and other obstacles from the gates leading to the holy site.
Fawcett added: "We wait to see how more widely how the Palestinian population here in East Jerusalem interprets this [visit], just weeks after they were on the streets protesting in such vehement style".
In remarks that infuriated the Palestinians, Netanyahu said he will never uproot aany West Bank settlement.
Speaking during a ceremony in the settlement of Barkan on Monday night, Netanyahu said that Israel has returned to the land of the Jewish forefathers "for good", adding that there "will be no more uprooting of settlements in the Land of Israel".
The Palestinians seek all of the West Bank as part of a future independent state. Under international law, all settlements are illegal.
Abu Rudeineh, the Palestinian president's spokesman, denounced Netanyahu's statement and called on the United States "to deal with these provocations".
Netanyahu's statement came shortly after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Israel to end actions which undermine efforts to reach a two-state solution.
Speaking alongside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Turkish capital, Ankara, Erdogan said: "To find a solution and provide peace is not only in Palestinians' favour but also that of Israel."
He also described the two-state solution as the "historical responsibility of the international community to the Palestinian people", and that recent tensions over restrictions at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem would not favour anyone.
"As Turkey, we always back efforts to accelerate the peace process," Erdogan added, going on to say that the process needed to acknowledge and protect Palestinian rights.
"We do not want the holy city of Jerusalem, which we have served for four centuries, to dominate the news with blood, tears and conflict," Erdogan said.
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