Hundreds of Jewish settlers with Israeli security storm Al-Aqsa Mosque

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) – Hundreds of Jewish settlers on Tuesday again stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem amid Israeli forces' security protections and tightened measures against Palestinians.

According to the Palestinian official news agency Wafa, the settlers escorted by Israeli forces stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in groups from the Al-Mugharbah Gate area on the holy mosque's west side.

Earlier on Monday, approximately 275 Israeli settlers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex on calls given by extremist Jewish groups to intensify incursions into the mosque during Ramadan, the news agency said.

Despite Israeli restrictions on access to Islam's third holiest site, approximately 35,000 Palestinians performed special tarawih prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque on Monday, the second evening of Ramadan - holy month of Muslims.

Tarawih prayer is a voluntary prayer that is performed during the fasting month after Isha, the last evening prayer.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

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.

Tensions have been running high across the occupied West Bank since Israel launched a deadly military offensive against the Gaza Strip after a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October.

Nearly 425 Palestinians have since been killed and more than 4,600 others injured by Israeli weapons fire, according to the Health Ministry.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in an interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza, where more than 31,000 people have been killed.