RAMALLAH / Qais Abu Samra / Anadolu

** Palestinian presidency in a statement:

- The storming represents a blatant violation of the historical and legal status quo

- The entire Al-Aqsa is a pure place of worship for Muslims, and Israel has no sovereignty over Jerusalem and its holy sites

The Palestinian presidency on Thursday condemned the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem by settlers, led by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Knesset member Amit Halevi, stressing that it is a 'blatant violation' of the historical and legal status quo.

On Thursday, Ben-Gvir, Halevi, and 3,228 settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound under Israeli police protection.

The presidency said in a statement carried by the Palestinian news agency WAFA that 'the storming by Ben-Gvir and settlers and the performance of Talmudic rituals in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound constitute a dangerous escalation that falls within a systematic Israeli policy aimed at imposing new facts in the mosque and dividing it temporally and spatially.'

It affirmed that the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, 'with its total area of 144 dunams, is a pure place of worship for Muslims,' stressing that 'the Israeli occupation has no sovereignty over the city of Jerusalem and its holy sites.'

The presidency called on the international community to 'assume its responsibilities and take a firm stance that obliges Israel to stop all its violations and unilateral measures in Jerusalem and all occupied Palestinian territories.'

Israeli far-right groups had called for large-scale incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the occasion of the anniversary of the so-called 'Destruction of the Temple.'

Israeli police have allowed settlers to storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque since 2003, while the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem demands a halt to these incursions.

Jews annually observe, with fasting and mourning, what they call the 'anniversary of the destruction of the Temple,' claiming that the Babylonians and Romans destroyed the First and Second Temples in 586 BCE and 70 CE, respectively.

Palestinians say that Israel is intensively working to Judaize the eastern part of Jerusalem and erase its Arab and Islamic identity, while they insist on it as the capital of their future state.