Dozens of Israeli settlers, on Wednesday morning, stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque from Maghariba gate, under heavy protection of Israeli police.
Local sources said, according to Al Ray, that around 131 Israeli settlers stormed the mosque, toured its compound and listened to Talmudic rituals.
The sources pointed out that the Palestinian worshippers faced the settlers with chanting.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam and is also venerated as Judaism’s most holy place. Disputes surrounding visitation to the site have historically flared tensions in the occupied Palestinian territory.
In 2003, the Israeli government unilaterally decided — despite the objections of the Islamic Endowments Department — to allow non-Muslim visitors into the complex.
Since then, under increasingly right-wing Israeli governments, extremist Jewish settlers have been allowed into the site in ever greater numbers — usually protected by Israeli security forces — while Palestinian access to the site has become increasingly restricted.
Extremist Israeli settlers and politicians have been violating the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque on an almost daily basis and always under the protection of armed occupation forces, which often attack Palestinian worshipers who try to protect their holy site.
(PNN archive image.)
Also of interest: Rabbi Lau: 3rd Temple Can be Built Without Destroying Al Aqsa
