Palestine warns against mass storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by illegal Israeli settlers
Settler groups have urged large-scale incursion into the holy site on Jewish day of mourning
File photo from Illegal Israeli settlers storm into the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex on the third day of the Jewish Passover holiday in Jerusalem on April 25, 2024.
RAMALLAH, Palestine/ISTANBUL
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Saturday warned of plans by illegal Israeli settler groups to stage a mass incursion into the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem on Sunday. The move coincides with what Jews mark as Tisha B’Av, a day of mourning they associate with the destruction of the First and Second Temples.
The ministry in a statement condemned the “incitement campaigns and settler preparations” for the raid, saying the move reflects Israel’s determination to target Al-Aqsa and gradually enforce control over the site.
It accused Israel of using religious occasions “to advance its colonial and expansionist agenda, altering the historical and legal status quo of both Muslim and Christian holy sites.”
The ministry urged the international community to take “concrete measures to protect the Palestinian people, especially Jerusalem and its sacred sites.”
The Jerusalem Governorate also warned of a “dangerous escalation,” saying the planned incursion is “not an isolated religious act but part of a calculated effort to undermine Al-Aqsa’s legal and historical standing and impose Israeli sovereignty.”
It stressed that extremist illegal Temple groups push for such raids every year “in open defiance of the sanctity of the mosque.”
This year’s calls come amid heightened incitement, only weeks after Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ordered police to permit illegal settlers to sing and dance inside the mosque compound.
The Islamic Waqf, which administers the site, has reported a sharp rise in violations since Ben-Gvir took office in late 2022.
Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed and 7,000 injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
In a landmark opinion in July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal. It demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
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