Dozens of Israeli settlers, protected by special Israeli forces and soldiers, stormed the compound of al-Aqsa Mosque, Thursday morning.According to Al Ray Palestinian Media Agency, Director of Media at Al-Aqsa Foundation for Waqf and Heritage Mahmoud Abu Atta said that “over 20 Israeli settlers entered the compound through al-Magharba gate and tried to perform Talmudic rituals.”
He stated that Israeli forces beat two guards names Muhannad Idris and Ashraf Sharbati, when they tried to prevent the invasion, noting that hundreds of worshipers were in the mosque since the morning hours.
In Nablus, Al Ray further reports that hundreds of settlers stormed ‘Joseph’s Tomb’ in the northern occupied West Bank, in order to perform Talmudic rites.
See related: Netanyahu Says Talmud Will be the Basis of Israeli Law
Several Palestinians suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation, during clashes at the tomb, where Israeli forces fired concussion bombs and tear gas canisters at Palestinians, according to WAFA.
Israeli Jews generally believe that the tomb belongs to the Biblical patriarch Joseph. Palestinians, on the other hand, believe the site to be the funerary monument to Sheikh Yousef Dweikat, a local religious figure.
Groups of militant Jewish settlers, increasingly accompanied by Israeli security forces, repeatedly force their way into the al-Aqsa complex, often inciting violent confrontations.
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08/21/14 ‘Glick, Settlers Again Storm al-Aqsa’
