OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
Hordes of extremist Jewish settlers escorted by police officers desecrated the Aqsa Mosque in Occupied Jerusalem on Sunday morning and later in the afternoon, amid tight restrictions on the entry of Muslim worshipers to the holy site.
According to local sources, over 218 settlers entered the Mosque in different groups through its Maghariba Gate and toured its courtyards in the morning.
During their tours at the Islamic holy site, the settlers received lectures from rabbis about the alleged temple mount and a number of them provocatively performed Talmudic prayers.
Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation police imposed movement and entry restrictions on Muslim worshipers at the Aqsa Mosque’s entrances and gates and prevented many of them from entering the holy site.
In a dangerous precedent, the first since 1967, a group of settlers stormed the Aqsa Mosque on Friday afternoon through Bab al-Ghawanmeh, carrying “bread offerings.” They reached the plateau of the Dome of the Rock after assaulting two guards.
During the past week, about 1,754 settlers entered the Aqsa Mosque under the protection of Israeli forces.
