Israeli settlers hang ‘donkey’s head’ on grave in East Jerusalem amid tension

By Anadolu staff

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli settlers hung a “donkey’s head” on a grave in the occupied East Jerusalem amid growing tensions across the occupied West Bank, according to local authorities on Wednesday.

“A settler stormed the Bab al-Rahma cemetery and hung a ‘donkey’s head’ on a grave there,” the Jerusalem governor’s office said in a statement.

Palestinian activists shared images and footage showing the head of a dead donkey placed among the graves in the cemetery adjacent to the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex.

There was no comment from the Israeli police on the incident.

The Bab al-Rahma is an ancient Muslim cemetery that has been an endowment property for more than 1,400 years. It contains numerous graves of notable companions of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.

Tension has been running high across the West Bank amid a deadly Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed at least 21,110 people, most of them women and children, since Oct. 7, according to local health authorities.

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, a move never recognized by the international community.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Ankara