Sheikh Ekrima Sabri Aqsa Mosque preacher and head of the Higher Islamic Council in Jerusalem has called on the Palestinian masses to march en masse to the Aqsa Mosque to defend it against settler break-ins.

In press remarks on Sunday morning Sheikh Sabri stressed the need for every Palestinian to strive to reach the Aqsa Mosque with might and main.

On Sunday morning a large number of Israeli police forces stormed the Aqsa Mosque’s courtyards and locked dozens of Muslim worshipers inside the Qibli prayer building before allowing Jewish settlers to defile the Islamic holy site in different groups.

Earlier Palestinian young men inside the Qibli building clashed with Israeli police officers who gathered outside and showered them with stones chairs and firecrackers while chanting religious slogans.

Meanwhile the Israeli police blocked roads to the Aqsa Mosque and imposed movement restrictions on Palestinian citizens in the Old City.

Local sources said that dozens of young men from Umm al-Fahm City in 1948 occupied Palestine were barred from entering the Old City.

Sheikh Ekrima Sabri head of the Higher Islamic Council in Occupied Jerusalem has called on the Palestinian people in general and the Jerusalemites in particular to march en masse to the Aqsa Mosque to compensate for their absence from the holy site for about six weeks.

In press remarks Sheikh Sabri warned the Israeli occupation authority of persisting in using the coronavirus pandemic to continue imposing restrictions on Muslim worshipers in the holy city in an attempt to reduce their number at the Aqsa Mosque.

On Sunday morning 48 Jewish settlers escorted by police forces desecrated the Aqsa Mosque and toured its courtyards.

The Israeli occupation police had imposed a lockdown on the holy city and closed the Aqsa Mosque to Muslim worshipers for about 40 days at the pretext of preventing the spread of coronavirus but they kept allowing Jewish settlers to enter the Mosque.