Over 1000 Israeli settlers have broken into al-Aqsa Mosque since the morning hours of Sunday under heavy police presence.
Local sources told the PIC reporter that tension has flared up in the Mosque especially that hundreds of extremist settlers rabbis and Israeli leaders are expected to visit the Mosque during the day to mark the so-called “Jerusalem Reunification Day”.
The PIC reporter said that the Israeli police assaulted a group of Aqsa guards for protesting Talmudic and provocative rituals performed by the settlers in the holy site.
Media official at the Islamic Awqaf Department Firas al-Dibis said that the situation started to get worse when the Israeli police opened al-Maghareba Gate to allow more settler break-ins.
So-called Temple Mount groups had called on social media for mass incursions into al-Aqsa Mosque on the anniversary of the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem.
The Israelis on 13th May celebrate the 51st anniversary of the occupation of the eastern part of Jerusalem during the 1967 war also known as “June setback”.
Before 1967 Jerusalem was divided into two parts: the western part and it was administered by Israel and the eastern one which was administered by Jordan. The Israelis celebrate the “Jerusalem Reunification Day” in an attempt to emphasize that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel.
Israel occupied the western part of Jerusalem which covers 84.1% of its area in 1948 while the eastern part which represents 11.5% of the city’s area remained administered by Jordan until 1967. The remaining part was declared a UN-controlled demilitarized zone.
