Hundreds of settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque during the "Fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz" in preparation for the anniversary of the "destruction of the Temple"
On Sunday, 512 extremist settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque, under heavy protection from Israeli occupation forces, on the occasion of the so-called "Fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz" according to the Hebrew calendar. This fast marks the beginning of one of the most dangerous seasons of the Hebrew year and paves the way for the so-called "Destruction of the Temple."
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Jerusalem explained that the raids took place in two periods, with 304 settlers storming in the morning and 208 others in the afternoon.
During the raids, extremist Temple groups enforced a policy of "freedom of prayer" inside Al-Aqsa, performing public group prayers, prostrating themselves on the ground, and religious mourning rituals specific to the occasion, in addition to clapping, singing, and religious dancing in Al-Aqsa.
Israeli occupation forces deployed in the courtyards to secure the path of the intruders, from the Dung Gate, through the courtyard of the Al-Qibli and Al-Marwani prayer halls and the eastern area, to the Al-Silsileh Gate, where settlers performed full prayers, and rabbis gave explanations about the "alleged temple," with calls to intensify daily incursions into Al-Aqsa, especially during the coming period leading up to the anniversary of the so-called "destruction of the temple" at the beginning of next August.
The occupation forces also imposed strict restrictions on the mosque's gates, preventing many young men and women from entering during both raids.
In the same context, settlers demonstrated this morning at the Dung Gate, protesting what they described as the "eviction and deportation of Jews from Al-Aqsa." They noted the increasing number of deportees during the current Jewish year, and objected to police actions during "the presence of Jews in Al-Aqsa."
