JERUSALEM (Anadolu)

3,228 Israeli settlers stormed the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem on Thursday, under the protection of Israeli police.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque is one of the holiest sites in Islam and has witnessed repeated tensions due to Israeli incursions.

The Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem stated in a statement that 3,228 settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the morning hours.

More settlers are expected to storm the mosque after the noon prayer.

Extreme right-wing Israeli groups have called for large-scale incursions into Al-Aqsa on Thursday, to commemorate what is known as the 'Destruction of the Temple'.

Annually, Jews observe fasting and mourning for what they call 'the Destruction of the Temple,' believing that the Babylonians and Romans destroyed the First and Second Temples in 586 BCE and 70 CE respectively.

Photos and videos showed Knesset member Amit Halevi from the Likud party among the invaders.

Both National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Minister of the Negev and Galilee Yitzhak Wasserlauf also stormed Al-Aqsa.

** Violations and Restrictions

According to eyewitnesses, the settlers entered the mosque from the Maghariba Gate in the Western Wall, under heavy Israeli security protection.

They added that police had imposed strict restrictions since the dawn prayer on the entry of Palestinian worshippers to the mosque, while settlers stormed its courtyards in large groups.

They reported that the incursions were accompanied by widespread violations, including performing Talmudic prayers and rituals loudly, raising the Israeli flag, and chanting the national anthem.

** Religious War

Earlier on Thursday, the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs warned that Israel is seeking to 'ignite a religious war in the region' by targeting the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

It stressed that the incursion constitutes 'a blatant violation of the sanctity of Islamic holy sites and a dangerous infringement on the historical and legal status quo at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.'

It added that exploiting Jewish occasions to intensify incursions and perform Talmudic rituals inside Al-Aqsa Mosque is part of 'the systematic occupation plans to impose temporal and spatial division as a fait accompli.'

It emphasized that Al-Aqsa Mosque, 'with its total area of 144 dunams (a dunam equals 1,000 square meters), is the exclusive right of Muslims alone and is not subject to division or partnership.'

The ministry called on the international community and UN institutions to assume their legal and moral responsibilities and pressure Israel to stop its violations against Jerusalem and holy sites.

Since 2003, Israeli police have allowed settlers to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque, while the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem stresses that the mosque is an exclusive right of Muslims and has repeatedly demanded an end to incursions.

Palestinians say Israel is intensifying its measures to Judaize occupied Jerusalem, including Al-Aqsa Mosque, and erase its Arab and Islamic identity, while they cling to the occupied city as the capital of their hoped-for state.

In 1948, Israel was established on lands occupied by armed Zionist groups that committed massacres and displaced at least 750,000 Palestinians, then occupied the rest of the Palestinian territory, and refuses to withdraw and establish a Palestinian state as stipulated in UN resolutions.

These incursions come on the anniversary of what is called the 'Destruction of the Temple,' an occasion observed by Jews with fasting and mourning. These incursions often lead to Palestinian protests and international condemnation. The participation of Israeli ministers in the incursion also sparks widespread controversy in Palestinian and Arab circles. Israel insists that settlers have the right to visit at specific times, while the Islamic Endowments consider this a violation of the historical and legal status of the mosque.