64 SETTLERS , INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS STORM AL-AQSA YARDS
Al-Quds (Yerusalem), 18 Rabi’ul Awwal 1435/20 January 2014 (MINA) – Dozens of Israeli settlers, intelligence officers and policemen stormed on Monday morning al- Aqsa Mosque via Mughrabi and Silsilah gates.
Spokesperson of Al-Aqsa Foundation for Waqf and Heritage Anas Ghanayim said, “17 settlers led by extremist Rabbi Yehuda Glick stormed this morning al-Aqsa Mosque and had a tour around different parts of its compound.” Al-Ray Media Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
”The colonial settlers received explanations about the claimed temple, its features and the future location,”he added pointing out that this intrusion was coincided with the storming of 20 members of the occupation intelligence officers.
He said that 27 policemen and officers also stormed al-Aqsa compound and wandered around its buildings.
Israeli settlers have stormed repeatedly Al-Aqsa Mosque compound over the last two days, and on Thursday even climbed the Dome of the Rock Mosque. The settlers were led by the radical Rabbi Yehuda Glick, who is the former head of the Temple Institute. He was accompanied by a journalist on Thursday who carried a camera to document the attack, while settlers reportedly engaged in verbal altercations with angry Muslim worshipers defending the mosque. Witnesses reported that Rabbi Glick returned to storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque twice on Friday, joined by groups of Jewish settlers whom he lectured to about the alleged Temple.
The settlers have now become accustomed to storming the mosque regularly, usually touring around the yards starting from the Mughrabi Gate and then going to Al-Marwani Mosque, Rahma Gate, Al-Asbat Gate and King Faisal Gate until the Alqtanin Gate, exiting from Al-Selselah Gate. However, this is the first incident where the settlers have climbed the Dome of the Rock Mosque.
The General Director of Muslim Endowments and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs, Sheikh Azzam Al-Khatib, has condemned the incident and described it as a provocative and dangerous step. Meanwhile, the Islamic-Christian Committee to support Jerusalem and its holy sites issued a press statement affirming that the incident represents “a flagrant violation against places of worship” and pointing out that the Israeli occupation authorities have almost completed their efforts to Judaise Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surroundings and are preparing to announce it as a Jewish synagogue.
In related news, Israeli occupation forces arrested three young Palestinian men from inside Al-Aqsa Mosque on Thursday and took them to a police station in the occupied city of Jerusalem.(T/P02/P04/mirajnews.com)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
http://alray.ps/en/index.php?act=post&id=2987
