Hundreds of illegal Israeli settlers storm al-Aqsa Mosque in latest act of provocation
Hundreds of illegal Israeli settlers have intruded into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied Old City of al-Quds, under the protection of Israeli forces, in yet another provocative move against Palestinian worshipers.
Some 1,390 illegal Israeli settlers broke into the compound through the Moroccan Gate, also known as the Mughrabi Gate, on Sunday, according to the Jordan-run Islamic Waqf Department, which is in charge of al-Aqsa Mosque affairs.
Far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir joined the settlers in performing Talmudic rituals at the holy site, while Israeli forces prevented Palestinian worshipers from entering the mosque, witnesses said.
Ben-Gvir’s office, however, said the extremist minister did not enter the site but welcomed Israeli settlers at the entrance of the complex.
Hardline Israeli officials and settlers regularly storm the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied city, a provocative move that infuriates Palestinians. Such mass settler break-ins almost always take place at the behest of Tel Aviv-backed temple groups and under the auspices of the Israeli police in al-Quds.
The al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which sits just above the Western Wall plaza, houses both the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Jewish visitation of al-Aqsa is permitted but as part of a decades-old agreement between Jordan – the custodian of Islamic and Christian sites in al-Quds – and Israel in the wake of Israel’s occupation of East al-Quds in 1967, non-Muslim worship at the compound is prohibited.
The latest intrusion by Israeli settlers comes as the occupying regime keeps its bloody war machine going in the Gaza Strip, which left at least 42,603 Palestinians killed, mostly women and children, since October 7 last year.
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