Israeli settlers storm Al-Aqsa ahead of 'flag march'

By Abdelraouf Arna'out

JERUSALEM (AA) - Hundreds of Israeli settlers on Thursday forced their way into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem.

Witnesses told Anadolu that the settlers, escorted by Israeli forces, stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in groups from the Al-Mughrabi Gate area, adding that right-wing Israeli rabbi Yehuda Glick was among the settlers who broke into the mosque.

The Jordan-run Jerusalem Islamic Endowment Department said that Periphery, Negev and Galilee Development Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf also joined the settlers.

This came as Israeli settlers prepare to celebrate the 56th anniversary of occupying East Jerusalem along with their planned "flag march" to walk through East Jerusalem's Old City areas.

Earlier this week, Israeli extremist groups announced that they are seeking to mobilize nearly 5,000 Israeli settlers to break into the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex on the day of the "flag march" on Thursday.

The “flag march” is staged by Israeli settlers every year to mark what they call the unification of Jerusalem, in reference to Israel's occupation of the city in 1967.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents Islam’s third-holiest site. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, saying 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 in a move never recognized by the international community.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar