OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
Jewish settlers assaulted residents and worshippers in the Al-Wad neighborhood adjacent to Aqsa Mosque before Friday prayers, while Israeli police forces arrested nine Palestinians after attacking them.
The settlers attacked residents and worshippers with punches and kicks, while several Palestinians attempted to confront them before Israeli police arrested them and transferred them to the Al-Qishla interrogation center.
According to local sources, Jewish settlers also assaulted residents and worshippers in several other locations, including attacks on elderly Palestinians.
The sources added that Israeli police simultaneously closed Bab al-Asbat (Lions’ Gate) and Bab al-Malik Faisal to worshippers trying to enter Aqsa Mosque.
They also reported that Israeli police imposed restrictions on young Palestinian men attempting to enter the Mosque for prayers.
Earlier on Thursday, far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stormed the courtyards of Aqsa Mosque alongside 1,336 settlers under Israeli police protection.
Ben-Gvir waved the Israeli flag inside the compound and made provocative statements, saying: “We have restored sovereignty and governance to the Temple Mount (the biblical name used for Aqsa Mosque), and all of Jerusalem belongs to us.”
Ben-Gvir also joined Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and thousands of settlers in storming Occupied Jerusalem’s Old City during the so-called “Flag March,” which witnessed widespread assaults on Palestinians and racist chants such as “Death to Arabs.”
The incursions included violations such as performing religious rituals, including what is known as “epic prostration,” and raising Israeli flags inside the compound.
