OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
The Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs reported that settler groups carried out 68 violations against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem and the Ibrahimi Mosque in Al-Khalil during the past month of January.
In its monthly report released on Sunday, the ministry announced that settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque 21 times under the protection of Israeli occupation forces, while the occupation authorities prevented the call to prayer (Azan) 47 times at the Ibrahimi Mosque during the mentioned period.
The Ministry indicated that settlers intensified their assaults on Al-Aqsa Mosque, both in the number of incursions and through dangerous Judaization schemes targeting the Mosque. It clarified that the occupation forces restricted worshippers, hindering their entry to the Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform prayers, particularly the Fajr prayer.
According to the report, these restrictions included stopping Palestinian youths and scrutinizing their identities around the Old City of Jerusalem and at the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque. The occupation forces turned away youths and prevented their entry to the Mosque through its gates, which resulted in dozens performing the Fajr and Friday prayers at the gate of Al-Silsila.
The occupation forces repeated the same measures against female worshippers, stopping them, obstructing their entry, and searching their bags at the gate of Al-Silsila while they were heading to Friday prayer.
Settlers also hung signs in the streets of Jerusalem to guide intruders to the Al-Aqsa Mosque under the name “Temple Mount” in Hebrew. They previously had caused the removal of signs leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Arabic.
In Al-Khalil, the occupation forces prevented the call to prayer 47 times at the Ibrahimi Mosque, entrenching spatial and temporal division there. The occupation forces continued to assault the Ibrahimi Mosque in various ways, changing the lock on the electric generator room and tampering with its contents, despite the fact that the key to the room is in the possession of the Mosque’s custodians.
The occupation forces replaced the lock on the electricity network belonging to the municipality of Al-Khalil, clearly infringing upon the municipality’s authority.
The Ministry pointed to numerous excavations carried out by the occupation forces in the same area, followed by the extension of electric cables from the electricity room to the section of the Mosque that has been seized.
The Ministry pointed out that control of the electricity room belonging to Al-Khalil’s electricity service is now in the hands of the occupation, whereas it was previously managed by Al-Khalil electricity employees. It affirmed that what the occupation is doing constitutes a blatant and flagrant assault on the authorities of the Awqaf in the Ibrahimi Mosque, a serious infringement on its sanctity, an affront to Muslims’ feelings, and an attempt to control it.