Hundreds of Israeli occupiers repeat Al-Aqsa incursions with rituals

Hundreds of Israeli occupiers stormed into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday morning to mark the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, a Jerusalem Islamic Waqf official said, Anadolu reports.

The official, who requested anonymity, told Anadolu that hundreds of occupiers entered the mosque compound under Israeli police protection.

The incursions included the performance of Talmudic rituals, prayers, dancing and singing, in violation of the status quo at the mosque, the official said.

The historical status quo predating Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967 stipulates that the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, affiliated with Jordan’s Ministry of Endowments, has exclusive responsibility for administering the affairs of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which covers 144 dunams (about 35.6 acres), as a place of worship exclusively for Muslims.

Extremist Israeli right-wing groups had called for large-scale incursions into Al-Aqsa during Sukkot, which began Saturday and runs through Friday.

The Jerusalem Islamic Waqf said earlier that more than 1,500 occupiers entered the mosque compound Sunday, more than 1,700 on Monday and over 1,400 on Tuesday.

Incursions into Al-Aqsa have intensified since the start of the Jewish holidays, amid heavy protection by Israeli forces and military measures in Jerusalem.

The holidays began with the Jewish New Year on Sept. 12 and 13, followed by Yom Kippur on Sept. 21 and 22. Sukkot runs from Sept. 26 to Oct. 2, followed by Simchat Torah on Oct. 3.

Since 2003, Israeli police have unilaterally allowed occupiers to enter Al-Aqsa through the Mughrabi Gate in the Western Wall, accompanied by police officers.

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Occupied West Bank attacks

Israeli occupiers burned a vehicle and scrawled racist slogans on the walls of a Palestinian home in the village of Deir Sudan in the occupied West Bank, a rights group said Wednesday.

The Al-Baidar rights organization said in a statement that the attack caused material damage and heightened tensions among residents of the village north of Ramallah.

The group said no further details were immediately available on the extent of the damage caused by the attack.

The incident comes amid an escalation in occupier violence against Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank.

In August, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee described Israelis involved in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank as “terrorists.”

In June, 14 UN special rapporteurs warned that the sharp increase in “occupier terrorism,” with support and complicity from the Israeli state in the occupied Palestinian territory, posed an existential threat to Palestinian communities.

According to figures from the Palestinian Wall and Colonization Resistance Commission, occupiers carried out 628 attacks in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, during August.

An estimated 750,000 occupiers live in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, in 194 settlements and 400 outposts, according to official Palestinian figures.

Since the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza in October 2023, Israeli forces and occupiers have intensified attacks across the West Bank, killing 1,206 Palestinians, injuring around 13,350 others and detaining more than 24,600, according to Palestinian figures.

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