The Palestinian authorities are calling on the international community to intervene to stop the incursion of settlers and Israeli forces into the mosque.
Rabat – Hundreds of Israeli settlers, escorted by Israeli forces, again broke into the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Sunday, resulting in a backlash and frustration among Palestinians.
Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that 3300 Israeli settlers entered the compound through the “Moroccan Gate, which leads to the Al Aqsa Buraq Wall plaza inside the Old City of Jerusalem.”
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The news agency added that the settlers regularly access the area and often perform Jewish prayers on the site, which is where they believe the Second Temple once stood.
“Some right-wing Israeli activists have advocated for the destruction of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to make way for a Third Temple,” added WAFA.
Palestinian authorities strongly condemned the Israeli move against the sacred site. Undersecretary of Palestinian Religious Affairs Ministry, Husam Abu Al-ob, addressed the international community, asking for the end of the “incursions” by the Israeli settlers.
“He said in a statement that “Jerusalem will remain Islamic and the occupation will not deprive it of its identity no matter what it does.”
This is not the first time that Israeli forces and settlers have accessed the third holiest site in Islam. On June 2, Israeli security forces assaulted Palestinian worshipers at the Al Aqsa Mosque Compound when they accessed the site with hundreds of Jewish settlers to mark what they call the “reunification of Jerusalem” .
Spokesman of the Palestinian President Nabil Abu Rudeineh scondemned the attack, accusing Israel of escalation in the region.
“We hold the Israeli occupation government fully responsible for the serious of escalations in Al-Aqsa Mosque as a result of continuing incursions and attacks on worshippers by extremist settlers under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces,” he said. The official also called on the international community to “shoulder its responsibilities in this regard and pressure Israel to stop this policy.
