Extremist Jewish settlers raid Al-Aqsa Mosque

With severe restrictions imposed on Muslims trying to pray in Al-Aqsa Mosque, extremist Jewish settlers yesterday raided the Noble Sanctuary protected by a heavy Israeli police presence, Safa news agency has reported.

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Former Deputy Knesset Speaker Moshe Feiglin was among almost 300 settlers who entered the sanctuary in a raid marking the Jewish Passover holiday. He was joined by Yehuda Etzion, the founder of the terrorist Jewish Movement which planned to bomb Al-Aqsa Mosque along with buses carrying Palestinian commuters in the 1980s.

The Israeli occupation police opened Al-Magharbeh Gate, one of seven at the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa, at 07:30 and deployed officers around the entrance and within the mosque. According to the Information Coordinator of the Department of Awqaf (Religious Endowments) in Jerusalem, Firas Al-Dibbis, by the time the gate was closed at 11:00, 291 extremists had passed through. The settlers allegedly performed Talmudic rituals on what they call the Temple Mount along with “religious dancing” in front of the Lion Gate before leaving the holy site.

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While this was happening, explained Al-Dibbis, Israeli police banned dozens of Palestinian worshippers from entering the mosque. They had to perform their prayers in the streets of the Old City surrounding the Noble Sanctuary compound.