RNA - An unnamed official from the Department of Islamic Waqf and Islamic Higher Council said a total of 52 settlers and an archeologist forced their way into the holy site through the Bab al-Magharibah under tight protection of several groups of Israeli soldiers and special police forces, Safa reported.
The settlers performed acts deemed provocative by Palestinians in the mosque courtyard before leaving the sacred site through the Chain Gate, Bab al-Silsileh.
The occupied Palestinian territories have witnessed new tensions ever since Israeli forces introduced restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem since August 2015.
Over the past decades, Israel has tried to change the demographic makeup of Jerusalem by constructing illegal settlements, destroying historical sites and expelling the local Palestinian population.
Palestinians and Muslims all over the world are extremely angry at Israeli attacks on the al-Aqsa Mosque, considering them the desecration of the holy Islamic site. Palestinians have declared Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian independent state, and that its heritage should remain intact.
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