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Thousands of Palestinians perform Friday dawn prayers at al-Aqsa mosque after Israeli settlers' attack

Illegal Israeli settlers storm the al-Aqsa mosque complex. (Quds Press)

Thousands of Palestinians worshipers reached al-Aqsa Mosque early morning on Friday in occupied East al-Quds and performed Friday dawn prayer in its courtyards amid strict Israeli measures and following attacks by illegal Israeli settlers the night before.

Palestinians started to flock from the different surrounding cities since early dawn hours to make sure they make it on time to the congregation. Israeli occupation police and strict checkpoints were deployed in the streets of al-Quds in an attempt to hamper their arrival to the holy site, according to Quds Press. Nevertheless, several thousands of them managed to reach the mosque.

Meanwhile, dozens of Israeli settlers stormed the complex on Thursday, local sources said. The illegal settlers forced their way into the holy site through the Bab al-Maghariba under tight protection of several groups of Israeli soldiers and special police forces, and carried out provocative acts in order to infuriate Palestinians.

Illegal settler incursions under police protection to the al-Aqsa mosque have been on the rise, which has led to daily confrontations with Palestinians at the mosque, with many injured, arrested and killed. Palestinians have said that their continued presence at al-Aqsa, a holy place of Worshiping for Muslims, is imperative.

It has been a major flash-point between the Israeli occupation and Palestinians for decades, and was the epicenter of the 2000-2005 Palestinian Intifada, also known as the uprising.

Such mass settler break-ins almost always take place at the behest of Tel Aviv-backed temple groups and under the auspices of the Israeli police in al-Quds.

The al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which sits just above the Western Wall plaza, houses both the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque.

Back in May 2021, frequent acts of violence against Palestinian worshipers at the al-Aqsa Mosque led to an 11-day war between Palestinian resistance groups in the besieged Gaza Strip and the Israeli regime, during which the regime killed at least 260 Palestinians, including 66 children.

The Jewish visitation of al-Aqsa is permitted, but according to an agreement signed between Israel and the Jordanian government in the wake of Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem al-Quds in 1967, non-Muslim worship at the compound is prohibited.

Palestinians want the occupied West Bank as part of their future independent state and view al-Quds’ eastern sector as the capital of their future sovereign state.


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