JEWISH SETTLERS DESECRATE AQSA MOSQUE
Al-Quds (Jerusalem), 6 Rabi’ul Awwal 1435/8 January 2014 (MINA) – A group of extremist Jewish settlers desecrated the Aqsa Mosque on Tuesday morning under Israeli occu[ation police protection.
Eyewitnesses said that 19 Jewish settlers entered the Mosque via the Maghareba gate and toured its various plazas while listening to explanations by Israeli “tour guides”.
The Wadi Hilwa information center said in a statement that 9,050 settlers had stormed the Aqsa Mosque in 2013.
The Sunday incident comes after a similar event on October 15, when a number of Israeli settlers stormed the mosque under army protection, ALQASSAM reported as quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).
Meanwhile, a report published by the al-Aqsa Foundation in October, said the Israeli occupation regime is planning to build a synagogue in al-Aqsa Mosque compound as part of its efforts to further Judaize the occupied Palestinian territories.
According to the report, which was based on the information leaked from the Israeli Knesset, the plan would divide the compound, taking one-fifth for the Jews in order for them to perform their religious rituals there.
On October 19, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh condemned Israel’s efforts to judaize al-Quds and the al-Aqsa Mosque.
Haniyeh also slammed Israel’s expansionist policies and the regime’s crimes against the Palestinian nation, saying the liberation of Palestine is a national duty.
He called on all Palestinians to act against the expansionist measures of the Tel Aviv regime across the occupied territories, particularly in al-Quds.
Over the past decades, Israel has tried to change demographic makeup of al-Quds by constructing illegal settlements, destroying historical sites, and expelling the local Palestinian population.
Over half a million Israelis live in over 120 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds. The international community considers the settlements illegal. (T/P012/E1/mirajnews.com)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
