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Israeli settlers break into al-Aqsa after regime forces attack Palestinian worshipers

Israeli settlers storm the al-Aqsa Mosque compound under heavy police protection. (Photo by WAFA news agency)

Dozens of Israeli settlers have stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, after the regime’s forces staged a second attack against Palestinian worshipers in the holy site and forced them out.

Palestine’s Wafa news agency, citing eyewitnesses, reported on Thursday that extremist Israeli settlers, in groups of 50 persons each, intruded into the compound on Thursday and toured its courtyards under the protection of the regime’s forces.

Israeli settlers also provocatively performed rituals in the mosque’s courtyards.

The incursions took place after the occupying regime forces raided the compound in the early morning and imposed strict restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the mosque.

On Wednesday night, Israeli forces brutally assaulted dozens of Palestinian worshipers inside al-Aqsa and forced them to leave the site, where they were peacefully observing the holy month of Ramadan.

The regime’s forces fired stun grenades and rubber bullets at Palestinian worshipers in an attempt to evacuate them. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, at least six people were injured in the fresh flare-up.

Only hours earlier, the forces had attacked the compound, beating the Palestinian worshipers there before arresting and forcing out more than 350 of them. Dozens of Palestinians were wounded as a result of the Israeli troops’ acts of violence.

Since dawn Thursday, Israeli forces imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinians to the al-Aqsa Mosque’s courtyards and prevented those under the age of 40 from entering and praying in the compound.

Illegal settler incursions under police protection to the al-Aqsa mosque have been on the rise in recent years, which has led to daily confrontations with Palestinians at the mosque, with many injured, arrested and killed.

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 according to an agreement signed between Israel and the Jordanian government in the wake of Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem al-Quds in 1967, non-Muslim worship at the compound is prohibited.


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