OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
Hordes of extremist Jewish settlers escorted by police officers desecrated the Aqsa Mosque’s courtyards on Sunday morning, amid tight restrictions on the entry of Muslim worshipers to the holy site.
According to local sources, dozens of settlers entered the Mosque in different groups through its Maghariba Gate and toured its courtyards.
During their tours at the Islamic holy site, the settlers received lectures from rabbis about the alleged temple mount and a number of them provocatively performed Talmudic prayers.
Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation police imposed movement and entry restrictions on Muslim worshipers at the Aqsa Mosque’s entrances and gates and prevented many of them from entering the holy site.
Under the status quo, non-Muslims may visit the Aqsa Mosque but cannot pray. However, Jewish settlers have been increasingly defying the ban, something Palestinians consider serious provocation, fearing that the occupation regime intends to take over the Islamic holy site.
In a related context, Jerusalemite officials warned of an Israeli intent to organize mass settler break-ins at the Aqsa Mosque next Tuesday to mark the destruction of the alleged temple.
Extremist settler groups incited their followers to participate in a human chain around the Old City’s wall in Jerusalem on Monday evening.
