Hundreds of illegal Israeli settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque to mark anniversary of East Jerusalem occupation

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - Hundreds of illegal Israeli settlers on Wednesday stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex to mark the 57th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem.

According to the Jordan-run Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem, 812 settlers broke into the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that the settlers tried to perform Talmudic rituals in the mosque's complex.

Later in the day, a provocative Israeli flag march is scheduled to pass through occupied East Jerusalem's Damascus Gate under the protection of over 3,000 Israeli police personnel.

The Hamas group condemned the planned flag march and considered it an aggression against the Palestinian people and their sanctities.

In a statement, Hamas said the flag march "confirms the (Israeli) occupation approach to Judaize the (Jerusalem) sanctities," and urged Palestinian "mass mobilization to confront the Al-Aqsa Mosque occupation plans."

The march this year coincides with a tense situation across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, in addition to a devastating onslaught on the Gaza Strip that has been taking place for nearly eight months, and has so far killed more than 36,500 Palestinians.

In recent years, the provocative flag march triggered clashes with Palestinians, including the 11-day fighting between Israel and Palestinian groups in Gaza in May 2021.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara