Al-Quds, MINA – The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Israel’s extension of daily raid hours at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque reflects a “systematic escalation” aimed at imposing new realities inside the holy site and entrenching temporal division, according to Anadolu Agency.
In a statement, the ministry condemned the escalating raids by Israeli occupiers into the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, saying they were accompanied by singing and Talmudic prayers under heavy protection from Israeli forces, as well as assaults on Palestinian worshippers.
A total of 448 Israeli occupiers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem on Thursday during the morning and afternoon times, according to an official at the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem who spoke to Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity.
The raids came on the first day the mosque reopened after being closed since the beginning of the US-Israeli war on Iran on February 28.
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The ministry said all measures taken by Israeli authorities in occupied Jerusalem, including organizing and expanding the raids, are “illegal and null” and constitute a grave violation of international law and relevant international resolutions.
It stressed that Israel has no sovereignty over Jerusalem, reaffirming that sovereignty belongs to the State of Palestine and that Al-Aqsa Mosque, with its full area of 144 dunams, is an exclusive place of worship for Muslims.
The ministry rejected any attempt to alter the historic and legal status quo at the site or impose a temporal or spatial division.
It held the Israeli government fully responsible for the escalation and its consequences, calling for an immediate halt to all raids and violations against Al-Aqsa Mosque and the lifting of restrictions on worshippers’ access.
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The ministry also called on the international community to take urgent action to stop the violations and protect Islamic and Christian holy sites in occupied Jerusalem, especially as Orthodox Palestinian Christians prepare to celebrate Easter in the Holy Land on Sunday.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa said the raids took place amid an unprecedented extension of hours. According to Wafa, the first raid period now begins at 6:30 am instead of 7:00 am and continues until 11:30 am, while the second period runs from 1:30 pm until 3:00 pm, bringing the total daily raid period to six and a half hours.
Israel announced Wednesday that it would reopen Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in occupied East Jerusalem starting Thursday morning.
Israeli authorities had closed both sites since February 28, citing security measures during the US-Israeli war on Iran. They also prevented Eid al-Fitr prayers from being held at Al-Aqsa this year for the first time since Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967.[]
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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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