According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the settlers, with the protection of the Israeli police, entered this sensitive religious site and performed Talmudic and provocative rites in the courtyard of the mosque.
The agency states that the raid is part of a series of repeated Israeli measures “aimed at demographic changes in the mosque and in East Jerusalem.”
Palestinian residents of occupied East Jerusalem are often subjected to harassment during settler incursions, including physical attacks on worshipers and restricted access to mosques.
Ramadan began on Wednesday in several Arab and Muslim countries, including Palestine.
Every year during Ramadan, Israel tightens security measures in and around occupied East Jerusalem, imposing strict restrictions on Palestinian access to the Al-Aqsa compound.
In 2003, the Israeli police allowed settlers to break into the mosque complex for the first time, despite repeated calls from the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem to stop this practice.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest place in Islam. The Jews call that area the Temple Mount, claiming that there were two Jewish temples in that place in ancient times.
Occupied Palestinians consider East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, as the capital of their future state, while Israel considers Jerusalem – including its eastern and western parts – as its capital.
(Vijesti.ba)
