By Rania Abu Shamala
ISTANBUL (AA) – Scores of illegal Israeli settlers forced their way into the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday morning, local media said.
The settlers toured the compound and performed Talmudic rituals under the protection of Israeli police, the official news agency Wafa reported.
The settler incursion came amid rising tensions across the occupied West Bank over Israel’s deadly assault on the Gaza Strip, where nearly 63,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area Temple Mount, claiming 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.