Description

Photos:
Scene. Published by Maan News
_____

JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, after midnight, on Sunday, and evicted dozens of Muslim worshipers out of the compound.

Eyewitnesses told Ma'an that heavily armed Israeli forces and police stormed the compound following the end of Muslim Tarawih prayers and forced out dozens of worshipers who have remained in Al-Aqsa out of the compound.

Sources added that this is the fourth time that Israeli forces police have stormed the compound and forced out worshipers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

It is noteworthy that Ramadan typically sees a slight ease of permit restrictions on Palestinians, particularly women, though the thousands who do get permits are still subjected to long waits and checkpoints and searches by armed Israeli forces.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which sits just above the Western Wall plaza, houses both the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque. The third holiest site in Islam, it is also venerated as Judaism's most holy place, as it sits where Jews believe the First and Second Temples once stood.

While Jewish visitation is permitted to the compound, non-Muslim worship at Al-Aqsa is prohibited according to an agreement signed between Israel and the Jordanian government after Israel's illegal occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967.

Despite the agreement with Jordan -- which is the custodian of Al-Aqsa -- Israeli authorities regularly allow Jewish visitors to enter the site, often under armed guard. Such visits are typically made by right-wingers attempting to unsettle the status quo at the site, and coincide with restrictions on Palestinian access, including bans on entrance and detentions.
______

Soldiers Attack Worshipers In Al-Aqsa Mosque

by IMEMC News

Israeli soldiers attacked, late on Saturday at night, many Palestinian Muslim worshipers in the al-Aqsa Mosque, in occupied Jerusalem, and forced them out of the holy site’s compound.

The Islamic Waqf and Endowment Department said dozens of Palestinians choose to spend nights in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, especially during the current holy Muslim month of Ramadan, but the army has been repeatedly invading it and using force to remove them.

It added that the soldiers attacked many worshipers, before forcing them out of the holy site.

In related news, dozens of worshipers prevented the soldiers and the police from invading the Al-Aqsa al-Qadim Mosque, in the Al-Aqsa Compound, by throwing their shoes at them.

It added that such violations are meant to exert Israel’s illegal control of the holy site, by violating the rights of the Muslims to stay in the compound without restrictions.

On Sunday morning, Israeli Agriculture Minister, Yuri Ariel, invaded the Al-Aqsa Mosque along with at least 17 colonialist settlers, accompanied by dozens of police officers and soldiers, through the al-Magharba Gate, and conducted a provocative tour in the holy site’s courtyards.

In related news, Israeli police officers uprooted many olive saplings that were planted by the Palestinian worshipers in Bab ar-Rahma area, in the Al-Aqsa Compound.