ISRAELI POLICE DETAIN FIVE PALESTINIAN WOMEN AT AL-AQSA

Al-Quds (Jerusalem) , 22 Jumadil Awwal 1436/13 March 2015 (MINA) – Israeli police detained five Palestinian women at the al-Aqsa mosque compound on Wednesday, as Israeli rightists toured the area.

Israeli police detained Fatima Kumani, Hanan Abu Snineh, Iman Abu Snineh, Sahar al-Natsheh and Zahiyyeh Eid as they were leaving the compound.

The Israeli police spokesman did not have any immediate information on the incident, Ma’an News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Witnesses said that Israeli police prevented Zeina Omar from entering the compound Wednesday morning, without providing a reason.

The Islamic endowment department said that some 30 Jewish settlers and 35 special forces members entered the compound through the Moroccans Gate.

Separately, a Palestinian woman and a man were banned from entering the al-Aqsa compound for a month by the Israeli magistrate court on Tuesday.

Following Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967, Israel has maintained a compromise with the Islamic trust that controls the Al-Aqsa compound to not allow non-Muslim prayers in the area.

Israeli forces regularly escort Jewish visitors to the site, however, leading to tension with Palestinian worshipers.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which sits just above the Western Wall plaza, houses both the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque.

The third holiest site in Islam, it is also venerated as Judaism’s most holy place as it sits where Jews believe the First and Second Temples once stood. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. (T/P010/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)