The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) banished on Wednesday an Islamic Awqaf employee and two Jerusalemite children from the Aqsa Mosque for different periods.
According to local sources the Israeli police handed Mahmoud Abu Kharroub who works as an Islamic Awqaf guard at the Aqsa Mosque a notice ordering him to stay away from the Mosque for one extendable week.
Police officers detained Abu Kharroub on Wednesday morning during his work at the Aqsa Mosque after he objected to the presence of a Jewish settler wearing a T-shirt with an Israeli flag printed on its back.
In addition to his work as a guard Abu Kharroub works voluntarily as a holy Qur’an teacher at the Mosque.
Two children identified as Izzuddin Jamjoom 13 and Yasser Jamjoom 12 were also handed notices ordering them not to enter the Aqsa Mosque for 15 days on allegations of disturbing the Jewish occasion of Hanukkah.
The kids were rounded up by police officers at the Bab al-Amud area in the Old City of Jerusalem after they left the Mosque.
On the fourth day of Hanukkah over 300 Jewish settlers defiled the Aqsa Mosque’s courtyards in different groups on Wednesday morning and later in the afternoon.
Some of those settlers reportedly carried out different provocative practices such as dancing and stretching out their bodies on the ground during their tours inside the Mosque or at its gates.
