Israeli settlers stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East al-Quds under the protection of Israeli forces, as the occupation regime pressed ahead with military raids, arrests, home demolitions and settler attacks across the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian news agency WAFA, citing the al-Quds Governorate, reported on Tuesday that dozens of settlers stormed the mosque compound through the Moroccan Gate and performed Talmudic rituals in its eastern section. Restrictions around Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Old City also remained in force.
Known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is one of the most sensitive religious sites in occupied East al-Quds.
It is administered by the al-Quds Islamic Waqf, affiliated with Jordan’s Ministry of Awqaf, and designated for Muslim worship.
Repeated Israeli settler incursions have heightened concerns over attempts to alter the longstanding status quo at the site. Performing Jewish rituals is prohibited at the premises under the status quo.
Beyond occupied East al-Quds, Israeli forces carried out raids across several West Bank governorates, searching homes and detaining Palestinians.
The operations targeted Jenin, Nablus, Tulkarem, Qalqilya, al-Bireh and al-Khalil, extending the campaign of military incursions and coercive measures across the occupied territory.
In Jenin, Israeli forces raided Arraba, Anin, Jaba, Meithalun and Qabatiya. In Nablus, they raided Qaryut, Awarta, Azmut, Salem, Burin, Tell and Surra. Arrests were reported, while Israeli troops converted an apartment building in Burin into a military post.
In Qalqilya, Israeli forces raided Azzun and demolished a house belonging to the Shihab family in the city’s an-Naqqar neighborhood.
In al-Bireh, occupation forces detained four people, confiscated their mobile phones and turned a house near the DCO checkpoint into a military post.
Raids and searches were also reported in Tulkarem and al-Khalil. In the latter, three young men were reportedly detained after being assaulted by Israeli forces during a raid in the Ein Deir Baha area.
Near Awarta, southeast of Nablus, settlers set fire to a Palestinian vehicle. In Umm Safa, northwest of Ramallah, another settler group torched several vehicles and spray-painted hostile graffiti.
Israeli forces also demolished memorials dedicated to Palestinian martyrs in Rujeib, Madama and Azmut, east and south of Nablus.
The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said it had documented 13 attacks by Israeli forces and settlers against Palestinian farmers and their lands across four West Bank governorates on Monday.
Since Israel launched its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, the West Bank has faced a sustained escalation in Israeli military raids and settler attacks, alongside the expansion of unlawful settlement outposts, the construction of roads reserved for settlers, and increasingly severe restrictions on Palestinian movement.
During the last three years, Israeli forces and settlers have killed more than 1,210 Palestinians, injuring around 13,350 others in the occupied West Bank.
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