Al-Quds, MINA – Scores of extremist illegal Jewish settlers desecrated the Aqsa Mosque compound in Occupied Jerusalem on Monday morning, under heavy Israeli police protection and amid strict restrictions on Muslim worshipers, Palestine Information Center reported.
According to the Islamic Awqaf Administration in Jerusalem, 304 settlers entered the Mosque through the Maghariba Gate and carried out provocative tours in its courtyards while escorted by police forces.
During these tours, settlers listened to lectures from rabbis about the so-called temple mount and some of them provocatively performed Talmudic prayers in the eastern area of the Mosque, further escalating tensions.
At the same time, Israeli occupation police imposed severe restrictions on the entry and movement of Muslim worshipers at the Mosque’s entrances and gates, preventing many from accessing the holy site.
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In a separate incident, Israeli police forces arrested one of the Aqsa Mosque guards, Arafat Najeeb, after raiding and ransacking his home in the Silwan neighborhood of east Jerusalem on Monday morning.
A local Jerusalemite source reported that Najeeb’s arrest came only days after he received an Israeli police order banning him from entering the Mosque for six months.
These incidents come amid growing concerns over intensified Israeli settler incursions and increasing restrictions on Palestinian access to the holy sites in Occupied Jerusalem. []
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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