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Israel bans Al-Aqsa guards from site for a week

April 19, 2018 at 1:13 pm

Hamza Al-Nabali and Arafat Najeeb, who are guards at Al-Aqsa Mosque, are banned from accessing Al-Aqsa for a week [Assabeel]

Israeli occupation forces yesterday banned two Muslim guards from Al-Aqsa Mosque from accessing the Islamic site for a week.

A guard was arrested and four were summoned for questioning yesterday morning resulting in Hamza Al-Nabali and Arafat Najeeb being banned from accessing Al-Aqsa for a week.

Guards at Al-Aqsa Mosque are regularly arrested, searched, interrogated and expelled from the mosque, as well as harassed during their work by Israeli occupation forces.

They are also hindered from doing their work while settlers storm the compound and hurl abuse at Muslim worshippers.

Earlier this week an Israeli court ruled that Jewish visitors storming Al-Aqsa Mosque can chant patriotic slogans as they did not count as religious prayers, according to the Times of Israel.

In response to the decision, right-wing Jewish activist and lawyer Itamar Ben Gvir, who was detained for several hours in 2015 for chanting “The people of Israel will live” in Hebrew in the mosque’s compounds, said: “I believe that the time has come for the courts to rule that Jews are allowed to pray on the Temple Mount [Al-Aqsa Mosque], just as Muslims are permitted to pray at the site.”

Read: Israel groups call for assault on Al-Aqsa Mosque