The Islamic Waqf Department in occupied Jerusalem reports that 1,035 settlers and Jewish extremists have stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque since this morning, under the protection of the Israeli police.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent mentioned that hundreds of settlers and Jewish extremists performed Talmudic prayers at Bab al-Silsila, one of the gates of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. She also indicated that the occupation police assaulted worshippers in the area of Bab al-Silsila and arrested several of them.
These invasions come on the third day of what is called “Jewish Throne Feast,” amidst strict security guarding by the occupation forces. Large forces of Israeli police were deployed in the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, imposing restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshippers.
The Palestinian News and Information Agency (WAFA) cited eyewitnesses saying that “dozens of settlers stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa in successive groups from the direction of Bab al-Maghribah and performed Talmudic rituals in its courtyards.”
Witnesses added that “large groups of settlers wandered through the alleys of the old town of occupied Jerusalem, and performed Talmudic rituals at the gates of Al-Aqsa, specifically at Bab al-Silsila and Al-Qattaneen.” The agency noted that “880 settlers stormed Al-Aqsa yesterday, Sunday, in successive groups from Bab al-Maghribah, performing Talmudic rituals, carrying ‘vegetable offerings’ of palm fronds, succeeding in bringing them in, while others wore religious (priestly) clothing.”
In turn, the Anadolu Agency quoted an official in the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem, who preferred not to be named, saying that Israeli police imposed age restrictions on worshippers entering the mosque by preventing young Palestinians from entering the mosque during the storming periods.
