Groups of settlers renewed their incursions into the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem today, under heavy security protection by the Israeli occupation police, coinciding with a field escalation in the cities of the West Bank that included a wide-scale arrest campaign.
Details of the raids in Jerusalem
Sources in Jerusalem reported that dozens of settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the early morning hours, through the Mughrabi Gate, which has been under Israeli control since 1967. The groups carried out provocative tours in various parts of the courtyards, receiving explanations about the alleged “Temple,” while some of them performed Talmudic rituals in the eastern area of the mosque, which constitutes a violation of the sanctity of the place and a provocation of Muslim sentiments.
The occupation forces impose strict military measures at the gates of the Old City and Al-Aqsa Mosque, where they obstruct the arrival of Palestinian worshippers, check their identities and detain some of them at the outer gates, in an attempt to empty the mosque and facilitate the incursions of settlers, which usually take place in two periods, morning and evening.
Arrest campaign in the West Bank
In a related development, Israeli occupation forces launched a large-scale raid and search campaign targeting several governorates in the occupied West Bank. These operations resulted in the arrest of at least 13 Palestinians, who were taken to Israeli interrogation centers.
The raids and arrests were concentrated in the cities of Jericho, Bethlehem, and Nablus, where military vehicles stormed citizens’ homes and wreaked havoc, amid clashes in some areas between young people and the occupation forces.
General context and political significance
These events come amid ongoing tensions in the occupied Palestinian territories, where Al-Aqsa Mosque is a major flashpoint. Extremist Temple Mount groups, with support from political figures within the Israeli government, are attempting to establish a new reality within the mosque compound, aiming to divide it both temporally and spatially between Muslims and Jews. This is categorically rejected by the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem (administered by Jordan) and the Palestinians.
The continuation of the incursions carries serious implications, as the international and regional community views them with concern, given that tampering with the status quo in the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem could lead to an explosion of the situation and drag the region into new waves of violence, as happened in previous years.
These practices, whether daily raids or nighttime arrest campaigns in the West Bank, are considered part of the ongoing pressure policy practiced by the occupation, which is met with Arab and international condemnations demanding the need to respect the sanctity of religious sites and stop unilateral measures.
