Extremist Israeli settlers commit another incursion on al-Aqsa Mosque

Scores of Israeli settlers, under the heavy protection of the occupation troops, have once again broken into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied Old City of al-Quds.

Palestine’s official WAFA news agency said the extremist settlers, divided into groups, entered the courtyards of the holy site through the Moroccan Gate, also known as the Mughrabi Gate, and made a provocative tour of the premises early on Sunday.

The Israeli regime had earlier deployed soldiers inside and around the mosque to secure the settlers’ incursion.

The Islamic Endowment Department in al-Quds was cited by Palestine’s Safa News Agency as saying that the settlers provocatively performed rituals and Talmudic prayers at Bab al-Rahma (Gate of Mercy) area, in violation of the site’s status quo.

The incident occurred as the Israeli forces prevented Palestinian worshipers from entering the mosque.

Israeli settler incursions into al-Aqsa Mosque and violence against Palestinians have been on the rise since the far-right extremist cabinet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office last December.

Such mass settler break-ins almost always take place at the behest of Tel Aviv-backed temple groups and under the auspices of the Israeli police in al-Quds, leading to daily confrontations with Palestinians at the mosque, with many injured, arrested and killed.

This is while non-Muslim worship at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound is prohibited according to an agreement between the occupying Israeli regime and the Jordanian government following the regime’s illegal seizure of East al-Quds in 1967.

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The UN says the number of Palestinians killed in the occupied territories by Israeli forces this year has surpassed the death toll of Palestinians for the whole year of 2022.

Six Palestinians arrested in West Bank

WAFA also reported that at least six Palestinians were arrested by Israeli forces across the occupied West Bank late on Saturday and Sunday morning.

Citing local and Palestinian security sources, it said the occupation forces stormed the town of Shukba and arrested two Palestinian young men in Ramallah, adding that a third Palestinian, an 18-year-old teenager, was arrested in the village of al-Mughayir, northeast of the West Bank city.

In Jenin, Israeli soldiers stormed the town of Kafr Ra’I and arrested a Palestinian young man after raiding and searching his family home.

In the occupied West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron), Israeli troops broke into the Ras al-Jora neighborhood and apprehended one Palestinian after raiding and vandalizing the furniture of his home.

The Israeli occupation army also detained a Palestinian young man in the northern West Bank city of Tubas while he was trying to pass an Israeli military checkpoint.

Over the past months, Israel has ramped up attacks on Palestinian towns and cities throughout the occupied territories. As a result of these attacks, dozens of Palestinians have lost their lives and many others have been arrested.

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