Israeli settlers repeat Al-Aqsa incursions with rituals

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - JERUSALEM — Hundreds of Israeli settlers stormed into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday morning to mark the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

A Jerusalem Islamic Waqf official, who requested anonymity, told Anadolu that hundreds of settlers entered the mosque compound under Israeli police protection.

The incursions included the performance of Talmudic rituals, prayers, dancing and singing, in violation of the status quo at the mosque, the official said.

The status quo predating Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967 stipulates that the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, affiliated with Jordan’s Ministry of Endowments, has exclusive responsibility for administering the affairs of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound as a place of worship exclusively for Muslims.

Extremist Israeli right-wing groups had called for large-scale incursions into Al-Aqsa during Sukkot, which began Saturday and runs through Friday.

The Jerusalem Islamic Waqf said earlier that more than 1,500 settlers entered the mosque compound on Sunday, more than 1,700 on Monday and over 1,400 on Tuesday.

Incursions into Al-Aqsa have intensified since the start of the Jewish holidays, amid heavy protection by Israeli forces and military measures in Jerusalem.

The holidays began with the Jewish New Year on Sept. 12 and 13, followed by Yom Kippur on Sept. 21 and 22. Sukkot runs from Sept. 26 to Oct. 2, followed by Simchat Torah on Oct. 3.

Since 2003, Israeli police have unilaterally allowed settlers to enter Al-Aqsa through the Mughrabi Gate in the Western Wall, accompanied by police officers.

The Jerusalem Islamic Waqf has repeatedly called for an end to the incursions, but Israeli authorities have not responded to the calls.

Palestinians say Israel has intensified for decades measures aimed at Judaizing occupied East Jerusalem, including Al-Aqsa Mosque, and erasing its Arab and Islamic identity.

Ikrima Sabri, Al-Aqsa Mosque preacher, warned that the rising Israeli incursions into the mosque during Jewish holidays pose a serious threat.

He said on Tuesday that these raids are intended to turn limited actions into a fait accompli protected by the Israeli occupation police.

He stressed that these incursions point to a far more worrisome development in the nature of the attacks on the mosque, as public rituals there continue to expand.

Sabri further warned that the real danger doesn’t lie merely in the scene of the incursion, but in what lies beyond it, saying that every new ritual that is allowed, every step that is allowed to go forward, and every Israeli official who storms the mosque and performs his rituals there are intended, over time, to turn exceptions into a fait accompli.

Palestinians regard East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, as the capital of a future Palestinian state, based on international resolutions that do not recognize Israel’s occupation of the city in 1967 or its annexation in 1980.