On April 15, the Notre Dame Cathedral in France was not the only religious structure burning.

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Separately, in Jerusalem, the compound of the Al-Aqsa mosque, one of Islam’s most important holy sites outside of Mecca and Medina, also caught fire, Newsweek reported.

The blaze was reported to have broken out in a guard's room outside the roof of the Marwani Prayer Room, Newsweek further reported, citing the Palestine News Agency, the official outlet of the Palestinian National Authority.

طواقم الإطفاء تخمد حريقاً اندلع على سطح المصلى المرواني في المسجد الأقصى. pic.twitter.com/CVx8X7nx4N

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) April 15, 2019

The blaze has since been successfully extinguished by the fire brigade of the Jerusalem Islamic waqf (the body that oversees Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem), with no injuries or damage reported.

Newsweek noted that news of the mosque's blaze was largely overshadowed by news of the larger blaze at Notre Dame Cathedral.

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How did the fire start?

The fire had supposedly started as a result of children who were playing in the area, Newsweek further reported, citing Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, director general of the Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department.

The Marwani Prayer room is underneath the southeastern corner of the Temple Mount, known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, which contains both the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Palestinian President condemns blaze and sends condolences to France

In response to the fire, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a condemnation of the blaze, stating that the mosque represents “great religious and humanitarian value to us,” Palestinian media Wafa reported.

Separately, Mahmoud also sent his condolences to France expressing "solidarity and sympathy with France and its friendly people for this incident that is painful to all of us because of what this historic place means to civilization, to the history of France and to world heritage".

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry was also reported by Wafa to have expressed solidarity with France, adding that it shared France's sorrow over the blaze affecting an important international site.

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A centrepiece to the Israeli-Arab conflict

Another reason why the Al-Aqsa Mosque is of such importance is that the entire site as a whole has been a centrepiece to the Israeli-Arab conflict, given its location within the Old City section of East Jerusalem.

Palestinian leaders insist there’s no hope for a peace agreement, unless they’re able to set up their own capital in East Jerusalem, while Israel claims the entire city as its "eternal and undivided capital".

The site was initially under the rule of Jordan from 1948 to 1967, from the establishment of the state of the Israel, until the six-day war in 1967 when Israel seized control of the area, Newsweek reported.

Subsequently, Israel annexed the site in 1980, in a move that wasn't recognised by most of the international community, although Jordan's monarchy was granted custodial rights over the Islamic holy sites.

The Second Palestinian Intifada in September 2000, is also widely believed to have been sparked by the visit of the late Israeli politician, Ariel Sharon, to the site, The National reported.

Then in December 2017, US president Donald Trump named Jerusalem as Israel's capital, sparking controversy in the conflict as the move effectively rejected the Palestinian's claim to the city.

Top image by Sarah Ferguson via Flickr