JERUSALEM _ Palestine News Network
A tense situation prevailed in the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Thursday, against the backdrop of Jewish settler groups storming their courtyards and performing ritual rituals, amid military protection by the Israeli occupation police.
The information officer at the Waqf and Islamic Affairs Department, Firas al-Debs, reported that dozens of Jewish settlers stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque during the morning tour by the "Bab al-Mughrabi".
He added that a tense situation prevailed in the atmosphere and courtyards of the Al-Aqsa mosque after Israeli police allowed settlers to chant religious chants and perform ritual rituals inside the mosque, provoking worshippers and al-Aqsa guards.
The Israeli police and the heavily armed special forces that stormed the mosque and protected the settlers, tried to attack the guards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the worshippers, he said.
"What happened today is very serious: the police allowed the settlers to repeat a hymn and biblical paragraphs collectively as they wandered into the Al-Aqsa mosque in a provocative manner," al-Debs said.
He pointed out that the Israeli occupation police closed the "Bab al-Mughrabi" after the storming of 142 settlers during the first round, and opened again for intrusion after the Zuhr prayers.
The incursions take place daily except Friday and Saturday, during the morning and evening periods, for a total of five hours.
Some 2,000 and 400 settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the month of August last August.
