Occupied Jerusalem: Al-Aqsa Mosque stormed by settlers

More than 120 Israeli settlers have stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in Occupied East Jerusalem, as reported by the Middle East Eye via Arab48 on December 24th.

Reports suggest that among the settlers involved in the December 24th incursion were students and around 18 members of Israeli intelligence and police forces, who barged into the mosque.

Al-Aqsa is considered one of the holiest places in Islam, where only Muslims are permitted to pray. However, Israel repeatedly violates this widely recognised status quo by storming the compound and performing Talmudic rituals and prayers.

The Ir Amim Association, an Israeli monitor, have previously expressed concerns about Israeli authorities exploiting Jewish holidays, like Sukkot and Passover, to increase the Jewish presence at the compound.

On October 8th, the second day of Sukkot, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir led 1,300 settlers on an incursion into Al-Aqsa. Like many other Israelis, Ben-Gvir believes Al-Aqsa is the site of the Jewish Temple Mount.

Al-Aqsa has frequently been a site of tension, especially since 2003, when the Israeli government first permitted Jewish Israelis to access the compound, which they claim to be home to two ancient Jewish temples.

In September 2000, then-Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon staged a raid on the compound with more than 1,000 heavily armed police officers and soldiers, which sparked the Second Intifada (a Palestinian uprising).

However, Al-Aqsa is not the only mosque under Israeli attack, as the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, the Occupied West Bank, has also been targeted by Israeli authorities.

In October, Israeli forces closed the mosque under the guise of protecting the area’s Jewish inhabitants as they marked Sukkot between October 8th and 9th.

Military checkpoints and electronic gates leading to the compound were shut by Israeli troops, which violated the rights of Muslim worshippers to pray freely.

The Ibrahimi Mosque has also been the location of flashpoints, including in 1994 when US-born Jewish supremacist, Baruch Goldstein, shot dead 29 Muslim worshippers in a terror attack motivated by anti-Arab racism.

On December 14th, Israeli settlers from Hebron’s Kiryat Arba settlement staged a provocative march that shut down several Palestinian neighbourhoods, while the area surrounding the Ibrahimi Mosque was subjected to Israeli-imposed movement restrictions.

Israeli authorities’ apparent failure to protect Palestinians from settler attacks seemingly reflects an increasingly blatant disregard for Palestinian life displayed by Israeli politicians.

Since October 2023, over 30 laws designed to further entrench a system of apartheid have been enacted by the Israeli government, including the demolition of Palestinian homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Middle East Eye via agencies, Al Jazeera and agencies, Maghrebi.org