2,233 settlers stormed Al-Aqsa compound in July: NGO

JERUSALEM (AA) – Over 2,200 Jewish settlers forced their way into East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in July, according to a Palestinian NGO on Monday.

“Around 2,233 Jewish settlers guarded by Israeli security personnel stormed the compound in July,” the Wadi Hilweh Information Center said in a statement.

The NGO said Israeli authorities also banned 14 Palestinians, including two minors and two women, from entering the holy site for different periods of time last month.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East war.

In a move never recognized by the international community, Israel annexed the entire city in 1980, claiming it as the self-proclaimed Jewish state’s “eternal and undivided” capital.

Sacred to Muslims, Christians and Jews, Jerusalem is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which for Muslims represents the world's third holiest site. Jews refer to the area as the “Temple Mount,” claiming it was the site of two prominent Jewish temples in ancient times. It also includes Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of the most sacred Christian sites in the world.