![Israeli settlers, under Israeli police protection, are seen as they raid Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in Jerusalem on 2 June 2019 [AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Israel-settlers-storm-Al-Aqsa-Mosque.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Dozens of Israeli extremist settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque yesterday and performed Talmudic prayers in the mosque’s eastern part.
Palestinian eyewitnesses said the settlers were led by radical Rabbi Yehuda Glick under the Israeli forces’ protection after they entered through the Al-Mughrabi Gate. Muslim worshippers were prevented from entry at the time.
Jerusalemite teacher, Khadija Khwais, warned that the settlers’ actions indicate that Israel intends to take control of the eastern part of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The head of the Islamic Movement’s Northern Branch in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah, has repeatedly called on Palestinians to increase their presence in Al-Aqsa, warning that Israel intends to take over the Muslim holy site.
“The Israeli occupation has no legitimacy in Al-Aqsa Mosque, despite its false attempts to strip Palestinian and Islamic sovereignty over the mosque as a prelude to build the alleged temple,” he said last month.