JERUSALEM – Dozens of Israeli settlers have violated the al-Aqsa Mosquecompound in the occupied Old City of East Jerusalem al-Quds under the tightprotection of regime forces.
According to a statement by the Department of Islamic Endowments inJerusalem al-Quds, carried by the Palestine Information Center, 121 Israelisettlers entered the compound from the Moroccan Gate on Sunday morning,attempting to perform rituals.
It said that 62 of the extremist settlers performed rituals in thecourtyards while the mosque guards prevented many others from doing soduring their provocative tours at the holy site.
Israeli forces stationed at al-Aqsa gates imposed restrictions onPalestinian worshipers’ access to the mosque, demanded their ID cards,frisked them, and searched their bags, the statement added.
Hard-line Israeli legislators and extremist settlers regularly violate theal-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied city, a provocative move thatinfuriates Palestinians. The al-Aqsa Mosque compound sits just above theWestern Wall plaza and houses both the Dome of the Rock and the al-AqsaMosque.
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According to an agreement signed between the Israeli regime and theJordanian government after Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem al-Quds in1967, non-Muslim worship at the compound is prohibited.
Palestinians want the occupied West Bank as part of their futureindependent state with East Jerusalem al-Quds as the capital of theirfuture sovereign state.
