Palestinian Waqf Condemns Extremist Ben Gvir’s Infiltration of Al-Aqsa Mosque
(KUNA) — The Jerusalem Municipality said on Sunday that the so-called National Security Minister of the occupation government, Itamar Ben-Gvir, breached the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound under tight military guard by the occupation army and performed Jewish ritual practices in the eastern area of the compound.
For its part, the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs strongly condemned the breach of Al-Aqsa by the extremist Ben-Gvir, accompanied by a number of settlers and protected by occupation forces. In a press statement, the ministry affirmed that these repeated breaches and provocative steps constitute a blatant violation of the sanctity of the holiest Islamic sites and a malicious attempt to impose a new reality and alter the historical and legal status quo at Al-Aqsa. It clarified that the continuation of these systematic violations fuels anger among Muslims worldwide and shows blatant disregard for international laws and covenants that guarantee the respect of worshippers and the protection of holy sites. The ministry called on the international community, human rights institutions, and Arab and Islamic countries to assume their responsibilities and intervene immediately to pressure the occupation authorities to halt these ongoing violations and encroachments on the occupied capital and its Islamic and Christian holy sites. It stressed that the entire area of Al-Aqsa Mosque, covering 144 dunams, is exclusively the right of Muslims alone and is indivisible and non-shareable.
On the same day, a large force of the Israeli occupation army breached the town of Budrus, northwest of Jerusalem, the hometown of Qadri Samara, whom the occupation claims carried out a shooting incident on Sunday near Ramallah that resulted in the death of an occupation soldier. The occupation army had previously claimed to have arrested Samara inside the H-Clinic hospital in Ramallah after a raid by Israeli special forces, confiscating a vehicle parked in front of the hospital under the pretext that it was used to carry out the attack. Local sources said occupation forces surrounded worshippers at Abdullah ibn Jabir Mosque in Budrus while they were performing the afternoon prayer.
