4/25/2024
Hundreds of Israeli settlers on the loose at Al-Aqsa Mosque
Hundreds of extremist settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound on 25 April under heavy protection from Israeli forces.
The latest incursion into the holy site comes on the third day of the Jewish holiday of Passover. Israeli settlers regularly step up their raids of the Al-Aqsa compound during Jewish holidays.
Over 1,128 settlers “stormed the courtyards of the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, under heavy protection from the Israeli occupation police, coinciding with the Jewish Passover holiday,” WAFA news agency reported.
The settlers “carried out provocative tours in its courtyards” as Israeli police enforced strict measures across occupied East Jerusalem, it added.
Settler incursions into the holy site also took place on Wednesday.
Throughout April, Israeli settlers have attempted several times to smuggle goats into the compound with the aim of performing slaughter rituals near the holy site. Extremist settler organizations, including the Returning to Temple Mount group, have promised financial rewards for those who manage to smuggle goats into the compound.
More than a dozen settlers attempting to smuggle in goats have been detained by police over the past week.
Since the start of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, settlers have scaled up violent attacks on Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank.
“Israeli colonists uprooted about 70 olive, grape, and almond trees in the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan, in the northern West Bank province of Salfit … Acts of vandalism by Israeli colonist militias have become a common feature of the daily life in the occupied West Bank,” WAFA said on 24 April.
Earlier this month, hundreds of settlers descended on the West Bank village of Al-Mughayyir, attacking Palestinians and torching homes and vehicles. One Palestinian was killed and dozens injured in the attack.
The settler rampage was triggered by the death of a settler boy, who was later revealed to have died as a result of a snake bite.
Israeli military raids in the West Bank have also surged, particularly in the city of Tulkarem, where fierce clashes between the Palestinian resistance and the army took place last week.