Israel detains 9 Palestinian women outside Al-Aqsa

JERUSALEM

Israeli police on Wednesday detained nine Palestinian women outside the gates of East Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, a mosque guard has said.

The guard, who asked not to be named, told Anadolu Agency that he knew the families of two of the detained women.

He added that two more Palestinian women had been summoned to an East Jerusalem police station for questioning.

"The 11 women were probably accused of chanting 'Allahu Akbar' ['God is great'] when Israeli settlers entered the mosque complex," the guard said.

Palestinian Muslims praying at the site often shout the phrase whenever extremist Jewish settlers enter the mosque complex – usually backed by Israeli police – to protest their presence in the holy sanctuary.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two prominent Jewish temples in ancient times.

Earlier Wednesday, around 100 Israelis – including intelligence personnel and police officers – forced their way into the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in several groups, according to a Palestinian mosque guard.

In recent months, groups of extremist Jewish settlers, often accompanied by Israeli security forces, have repeatedly forced their way into the flashpoint holy site.

The frequent violations anger Palestinian Muslims and occasionally lead to violent confrontations.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state – a move never recognized by the international community.

In September 2000, a visit to Al-Aqsa by controversial Israeli leader Ariel Sharon sparked what later became known as the "Second Intifada" – a popular uprising against the Israeli occupation in which thousands of Palestinians were killed.

www.aa.com.tr/en