Hundreds of Israeli settlers renewed their incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday morning , on the occasion of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
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The Jerusalem Governorate said that “the manifestations of escalation and public religious rituals continued during the days of Eid inside Al-Aqsa Mosque, and included the performance of group prayers, singing circles, chants and religious rituals in the eastern area of the mosque, in conjunction with the continued restriction of the entry of worshippers and preventing them during the periods of incursions by settlers, within the framework of imposing a new reality inside Al-Aqsa Mosque and changing the status quo therein.”
According to the governorate, “a video clip documented former Knesset member Moshe Feiglin performing the rituals of the “Four Types” on the eastern side of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which include citron, palm fronds and other plant species associated with the rituals of the so-called Jewish “Feast of Tabernacles”.
The governorate added that “the occupation authorities closed the road leading to the Bab al-Asbat area, and the entrance to the “Turba” road leading to the town of Silwan, to secure the arrival of settlers to the Western Wall in conjunction with the activities of the fifth day of the so-called Jewish “Feast of Tabernacles”.
An official in the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem said that hundreds of settlers renewed their storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque since the morning hours, under the protection of the Israeli police.
The official, who preferred not to be named, added that the incursions included the performance of Talmudic rituals, prayers, dancing and singing, in violations of the status quo at the mosque.
The historical situation that has prevailed since before the occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967 is that the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem (affiliated with the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf) is the sole and exclusive authority responsible for managing the affairs of the Al-Aqsa Mosque with its full area of 144 dunams (a dunam equals one thousand square meters) as a place of worship exclusively for Muslims.
Extremist right-wing Israeli groups had called for large-scale incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the Feast of Tabernacles, which began on Saturday and continues until Friday.
The Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem reported earlier that more than 1,500 settlers stormed the mosque on Sunday, more than 1,700 on Monday, and more than 1,400 on Tuesday.
Al-Aqsa Mosque has witnessed an escalation in settler incursions since the start of the Jewish holidays, amid heavy protection from Israeli forces and military measures in Jerusalem.
These holidays began with the Hebrew New Year on September 12 and 13, followed by Yom Kippur on September 21 and 22, while Sukkot extends from September 26 to October 2, culminating in the completion of the Torah on October 3.
Since 2003, the Israeli police have unilaterally allowed settlers to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque through the Mughrabi Gate in the western wall of the mosque, accompanied by police officers.
The Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem has repeatedly called for a halt to the incursions, but without any response from the Israeli authorities.
Palestinians say that for decades Israel has been intensifying its attacks aimed at Judaizing East Jerusalem, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and obliterating its Arab and Islamic identity.
The Palestinians insist on East Jerusalem as the capital of their hoped-for state, based on international legitimacy resolutions that do not recognize Israel’s occupation of the city in 1967 or its annexation in 1980.
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