RAMALLAH – As many as 144 Israeli settlers stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, protected by Israeli occupation forces.
In a statement Monday, the Islamic Endowments Department in Al Quds (East Jerusalem) said the Maghariba Gate (Moroccan Dung Gate) was closed to mark end of morning raids, after 144 settlers, including 40 students of Jewish religious institutes and universities, stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Israeli settlers, under protection of Israeli occupation troops, carried out provocative tours of the Mosque’s courtyards and performed Talmudic rituals, the statement read.
Israeli forces tightened their procedures against worshipers entering Al-Aqsa, withheld identities of a number of them and searched all those entering the mosque at the various doors, it added.
As for daily arrests, the Prisoners’ Club and the Palestinian Prisoners’ and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs Authority explained – in a joint statement – that Israeli occupation forces arrested – as from Sunday evening until the issuance of the statement – at least 30 people from the West Bank, including children and former prisoners, it said.
According to the statement arrests mainly took part in the governorates of Ramallah, Jenin, and Hebron, while the rest were made in the governorates of Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Nablus, Jericho and Tubas.
During the arrest campaigns, the occupation forces harassed, beat and threatened detainees and their families and even continued to sabotage and destroy homes, read the statement.
The statement indicated that Monday’s update raised the total number of arrests after the seventh of last October to more than 9,580 and this total included those arrested from homes, at military checkpoints, as well as those forced to surrender under pressure, along with those held hostage.
Discussion about this post