UPDATES NUMBER OF ISRAELI SETTLERS
JERUSALEM (AA) - Over 1,000 Israeli settlers forced their way into the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday to mark the fifth day of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, according to a Palestinian official.
“Around 1,040 settlers stormed the site since morning,” the official with the Jordan-run Islamic Waqf Department told Anadolu.
He said the settlers entered the site in groups through the Al-Mughrabi Gate in the western wall of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex and attempted to perform "Talmudic rituals."
Sukkot is a weeklong holiday, which started on Sept. 29 and will continue until Oct. 6, ending a season of Jewish holidays that started by observing the Rosh Hashanah (New Year) on Sept. 15.
According to an Anadolu tally, around 3,116 settlers visited the Al-Aqsa complex since Sunday.
Settlers are allowed by the Israeli authorities into the Al-Aqsa compound on two shifts, morning and evening, except for Fridays and Saturdays.
Police have imposed age restrictions and prevented young Palestinians from entering the mosque during periods of incursions, witnesses told Anadolu.
Israeli police began allowing the settler incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in 2003, despite repeated condemnations from Palestinians.
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 Ahmed Asmar in Ankara