Settlers breach Al-Aqsa Mosque... Occupation closes Ibrahimi Mosque to Palestinians until Wednesday
Israeli settlers breached the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound this Monday morning under the protection of Israeli occupation police, coinciding with the closure of the Ibrahimi Mosque to Palestinians until Wednesday evening due to Jewish holidays.
The Jerusalem Governorate stated that occupation authorities closed intersections and streets surrounding the Old City and leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem to ensure the safety of settlers on the third day of the Jewish Sukkot festival. It added that settlers performed dance and singing circles within the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards during the breach.
In the same context, the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs said in a statement that the closure of the Ibrahimi Mosque includes prohibiting prayer and the call to prayer (Adhan) there, paving the way for what it described as “settler control and desecration” of the site during the Jewish holidays.
The ministry affirmed that these practices constitute a “blatant violation” of the sanctity of the Ibrahimi Mosque, infringing on freedom of worship and the right of Muslims to practice their religious rites, stressing that the mosque is “exclusively an Islamic waqf (endowment).”
It warned against the danger of continuing Israeli measures and attempts to impose temporal and spatial segregation at the mosque, considering this a “dangerous precedent in encroaching on Islamic holy sites,” and held the occupation authorities fully responsible for the consequences of these policies.
The ministry called on the international community, human rights and humanitarian institutions, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to intervene urgently to pressure occupation authorities to stop the ongoing violations of the Islamic waqf and religious holy sites, and to protect freedom of worship in all holy places.
Earlier, on Sunday, the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem announced that 1,500 Israeli settlers breached the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and performed Talmudic rituals under Israeli police guard, coinciding with tightened restrictions on the entry of worshippers.
