Hundreds of extremist Jewish settlers desecrated the Aqsa Mosque in Occupied Jerusalem on Sunday the second day of the Sukkot holiday.
According to al-Qastal news website at least at least 867 settlers entered the Mosque in groups through its Maghariba Gate and toured its courtyards under tight police protection during morning and afternoon tours.
A number of settlers escorted by police officers also gathered in the eastern area of the Mosque and embarked on performing Talmudic prayers.
Eyewitnesses in the morning reported seeing a horde of settlers dressed as priests performing full prostration with their bodies pressed flat on the ground inside the Aqsa Mosque compound.
Many settlers also carried plants and leaves as part of the Sukkot rituals during their tours of the Old City of Jerusalem and at the Aqsa Mosque’s gates in the morning.
Meanwhile Israeli police officers assaulted and harassed Palestinian pro-Aqsa activists during their presence at the entrances of the Aqsa Mosque especially near the Silsila Gate.
The Israeli occupation police have also imposed tight movement and entry restrictions on Muslim worshipers at the Aqsa Mosque’s entrances and gates since the early morning hours especially when they tried to enter the Mosque for dawn prayers.
