Israeli settlers raid Aqsa Mosque yet again, raising fears of new flare-up

Israeli settlers, backed by the Tel Aviv regime’s forces, have once again raided the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied Old City of East Jerusalem al-Quds.

The Arabic-language news website Palestine al-Youm reported on Tuesday that about 80 extremist settlers had entered the compound through the al-Mugharbah Gate under the protection of Israeli occupation forces to prevent Palestinian worshippers from performing their religious duties.

The raid, the third of such attacks over the past week, was accompanied by anti-Muslim and provocative slogans from the Israeli settlers.

The news website reported no clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian worshippers at the holy site.

The settlers also on Sunday stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque compound under the protection of Israeli forces, with the Palestinian information center reporting that they had entered through the compound’s Moroccan Gate.

The Israeli troops attacked the worshipers who came to perform the dawn prayer at the gates of the mosque and prevented them from entering the compound.

In another provocative move on Friday, Israeli forces raided the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, with reports saying at least 80 Palestinians sustained injuries after Israeli forces fired sound bombs and rubber bullets at worshipers.

Israeli forces attack Muslim worshipers in al-Aqsa Mosque, injure 80 Palestinians

Israeli forces have stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem al-Quds in a move condemned as “provocative” amid international efforts to de-escalate tensions in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Israeli settlers routinely “raid” the sacred compound via the Moroccan Gate, tour the site, and are escorted by heavily-armed Israeli forces through the Chain Gate.

The Jewish visitation of al-Aqsa is permitted, but according to an agreement signed between Israel and Jordan — which is the custodian of the holy sites in the compound — after Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem al-Quds in 1967, non-Muslim worship at the compound is strictly prohibited.

Visits accompanied by worship thus anger the Palestinians, who have repeatedly warned of Israeli attempts to change the status quo of the al-Aqsa compound, the third holiest site in Islam.

Over half a million Israeli settlers live in more than 230 settlements built since the 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds.

All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law as they are built on occupied land.

Muslim countries condemn violent Israeli raid on al-Aqsa Mosque

Several Muslim countries denounce a violent Israeli assault on Palestinian worshipers in the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem al-Quds.

Two Palestinians killed in West Bank, Jerusalem

Palestinian media also announced on Tuesday that a young man was killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank city of al-Bireh.

Palestine's official Wafa news agency said “undercover” Israeli forces entered Umm Al Sharayet neighborhood in al-Bireh and shot a young man, identified as Ahmad Jamil Fahd, leaving him to bleed to death.

Palestinian medical sources confirmed that the body of Fahd, a resident of al-Am'ari refugee camp, in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, was rushed to the medical facility, where medics announced him dead.

The killing of Fahd came hours after a 17-year-old teen was fatally shot by Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem al-Quds.

Israeli forces fired multiple gunshots towards Zuhdi al-Tawil and killed him after he purportedly carried out a stabbing attack.

The occupation forces also arrested a number of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem al-Quds on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Israeli regime announced that it would arrest hundreds of Palestinian citizens in the occupied territories over the coming days for their participation in recent sit-ins in support of Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem and the besieged Gaza Strip.

In what was described as a "war declaration" by Palestinians, the Tel Aviv regime said it intended to penalize those who had taken part in demonstrations against settler violence, the Israeli forces’ raids on the al-Aqsa Mosque compound and the 12-day bombardment of Gaza.

253 martyrs, 1948 wounded: Gaza updates toll from 12-day Israeli war

The Gaza Strip revises up its tally of the casualties that have been left from the Israeli regime’s recent 12-day war.

Israeli police said some 1,550 people have already been arrested since May 10 and the campaign is a “continuation” that aims to “prosecute” demonstrators who had over the past two weeks taken to the streets in towns and cities across the occupied territories.

Tensions have been rising across the Palestinian territories since last month over an Israeli court's decision to expel Palestinian families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem.

The situation flared after Israeli forces raided the al-Aqsa Mosque and attacked worshipers inside.

Tensions spread to the besieged Gaza Strip, with the Israeli regime launching airstrikes that killed at least 253 Palestinians, including 66 children and 39 women, and wounded 1948 others.

Twelve Israelis were also killed in retaliatory Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza before the conflict stalled on Friday under an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire.

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