OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
Israeli far-right extremist settlers planned Thursday evening a provocative march into Occupied Jerusalem’s Old City demanding an end to the role of the administration of the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf Department in Al-Aqsa Mosque, and to demand full Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The settler march kicked off on Thursday, which coincides with the first day of Hanukkah, a Jewish festival that lasts eight days, from Bab Al-Khalil, one of the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque, through the Old City’s roads adjacent to its walls, to Bab Al-Amoud (Damascus Gate) of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Jewish settlers chanted slogans demanding annihilating Palestinians and ending the administration of the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf Department in Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Israeli police turned the city into a military barracks, erected barriers in the vicinity of Bab al-Amoud and the two streets of Sultan Suleiman and Nablus, blocking the movement of the Jerusalemites and banning them from accessing their homes in the Old City just to secure the settler march.
Israeli forces also deployed mounted police and wastewater cannon trucks, in anticipation of the outbreak of confrontations with the Jerusalemites, and imposed severe restrictions on their movement within the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Jewish settlers celebrate the so-called Festival of Lights, “Hanukkah,” over the course of 8 days, during which one candlestick “menorah” is lit every day and massive raids are carried out in Al-Aqsa Mosque, as the Jewish holidays serve as an opportunity for Judaizing Jerusalem and harassing its Palestinian residents.
