Some 159 Jewish settlers storm Jerusalem’s Aqsa complex

By Abdel-Raouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - Dozens of Jewish settlers on Thursday broke into Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, according to a Jerusalem-based agency.

"Around 159 Jewish settlers have entered the compound," the Religious Endowments Authority, a Jordan-run agency responsible for overseeing the city's Muslim and Christian holy sites, said in a statement.

The settlers entered the Al-Aqsa -- accompanied by Israeli police -- through the compound’s Al-Mugharbah Gate, it said.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third-holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the "Temple Mount", claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, in which the Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

In a move never recognized by the international community, it annexed the entire city in 1980, claiming it as the Jewish state’s "eternal and undivided" capital.