OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
The Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs said that the Israeli occupation authorities and Jewish settlers have escalated their assaults on the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque during the month of October 2024, both in terms of the number of incursions, which exceeded 23, and the number of intruders.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the Ministry reported that Al-Aqsa Mosque witnessed more than 23 incursions by settlers, under heavy protection from occupation forces, coinciding with Jewish holidays. The number of settlers who intruded into the Mosque reached 9,721, including rabbis, children, and young people.
The eastern area of the Mosque also witnessed the performance of religious rituals and a collective prostration, in celebration of Rosh Hashanah (the New Year in Judaism).
Settlers launched calls for mass incursions during the holidays, providing free transportation to take them to Al-Aqsa Mosque, while occupation forces transformed the city of Jerusalem and the Old City into a military barracks and heightened their state of alert.
The report highlighted the incursion of extremist Minister Itamar Ben Gvir into Al-Aqsa Mosque on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles on October 17, where he made statements from inside the Mosque aimed at imposing a new reality in Jerusalem and changing the status quo at Al-Aqsa, in the presence of a group of rabbis and settlers.
Regarding the Ibrahimi Mosque, the report indicated that Israeli occupation forces prevented the call to prayer 95 times during October, as part of attempts to impose temporal and spatial division, and also closed the Mosque for 7 days.
The report documented provocative tours by the occupation forces within the Mosque, the installation of Israeli flags, and the placement of religious equipment including Torah stands, wooden dividers, plastic chairs, tents, loudspeakers, and musical instruments.
It also noted that the occupation forces allowed the call to prayer for dawn on the 13th of the month after preventing it for 31 consecutive days, a move reflecting ongoing restrictions on the Ibrahimi Mosque.
The report also documented other assaults on sacred sites, including the incursion of occupation forces into the old Marda Mosque in Salfit, where they tampered with the Mosque’s contents, fired bullets and gas bombs inside, and detained worshippers for eight hours.
The Ministry of Awqaf confirmed that these practices represent a blatant violation of its authorities and a serious assault on the sanctity of Islamic religious sites, aimed at imposing a new reality. It called on the international community to urgently intervene to stop these violations, which provoke the feelings of Muslims and attempt to change the identity of Jerusalem and Islamic holy sites.
