News / Reports

Vigil held in Gaza to support al-Aqsa Mosque amid surge in Israeli violations

Tuesday, 28 March 2023 3:01 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 29 March 2023 5:27 PM ]

Ola Al-Asi
Press TV, Gaza

A vigil has been held in Gaza to condemn the spike in Israeli violations of al-Aqsa Mosque and the West Bank.

Over the past few days and with the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, dozens of Israeli forces stormed the vicinity of the compound of al-Aqsa Mosque. They assaulted and blockaded Muslim worshipers and forced them out of the holy site, paving the way for Israeli far-right extremists to enter the mosque.

That prompted Palestinians and resistance factions to reiterate their readiness to defend al-Aqsa and repeat the 2021 Operation Sword al-Quds if the al-Aqsa status quo is violated.

Palestinians and Muslims reject the temporal and spatial division of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound between Muslims and Jews. This is while Israel keeps violating the internationally agreed status quo of the mosque.

Ramadan every year witnesses Israeli attacks against Palestinians gathered in the holy place.

In 2021, the expulsion of Palestinian families from their homes in al-Quds and Israeli raids on al-Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan led to an 11-day aggression on Gaza. More than 260 Palestinians were killed during that assault, including 67 children and 41 women. Over 2,200 Palestinians were injured and many more internally displaced.

A surge in Israeli settler violence and military raids on Palestinians' towns have claimed the lives of more than 90 Palestinians since the start of this year. That makes 2023 the deadliest year in decades in the occupied East al-Quds and the West Bank.

There are concerns that tensions in the occupied territories would escalate, as Israeli forces and settlers continue their attacks on Palestinians and violate their sanctities in clear defiance of calls to stop the violence.

The repeated Israeli attacks against the Palestinians in the West Bank, and the regime's flagrant violations of the holy al-Aqsa Mosque during the fasting month of Ramadan, have been met with strong condemnations in Gaza where Palestinians express their unwavering support the al-Quds and al-Aqsa Mosque.

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