OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
Aqsa Mosque preacher Sheikh Ekrima Sabri warned of escalating settler incursions into the Aqsa Mosque, stressing that Israeli authorities and extremist groups are exploiting religious and seasonal occasions to carry out plans aimed at altering the existing status quo at the site.
In a press statement on Thursday, Sheikh Sabri said that settlers’ repeated raids into the Mosque courtyards, along with provocative practices, are part of ongoing attempts to impose new realities. He noted that these incursions, coinciding with what is referred to as “Independence Day,” are neither the first nor likely the last.
He added that during these incursions, settlers perform Talmudic rituals, raise Israeli flags, and engage in loud and disruptive behavior in the site’s courtyards in an effort to impose a new character on the holy site.
On Wednesday, Aqsa Mosque was subjected to a large-scale Israeli incursion, during which more than 1,250 settlers and tourists forced their way into the compound under the protection of Israeli forces. The holy site also witnessed dancing, singing, and public prayers by settlers, marking what is called “Independence Day” according to the Hebrew calendar.
During the incursion, a settler raised an Israeli flag in front of the Dome of the Rock near the western colonnade of Aqsa Mosque, while dozens of others performed prostration rituals at the site.
