On Tuesday morning, settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque through the Mughrabi Gate, under heavy protection from the Israeli occupation police, on the first day of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.These raids come in response to calls by the so-called “Temple Organizations” to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque throughout the Sukkot holiday, which continues until next Monday. The organizations pledged to provide transportation, refreshments, and guides during the raids.The Islamic Endowments Department in occupied Jerusalem reported that dozens of settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque and toured its courtyards.She explained that the settlers performed Talmudic rituals and prayers in the eastern area of the mosque, under the protection of the occupation police.The occupation forces tightened their military measures at the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque and in the Old City, restricting the entry of worshippers and Jerusalemites to the mosque.The occupation forces evacuated the worshippers from the perimeter of the mosque courtyards in favor of the intruders, and threatened the guards to remain in the prayer halls and domes and not leave them.During the raid, settlers brought “vegetable offerings” to Bab al-Hatta, one of the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque, on the first day of Eid.The occupation police pledged to allow a group of intruders to enter every ten minutes.Extremist groups have emphasized the necessity of performing biblical rituals at Al-Aqsa Mosque, embellishing their calls with plant offerings, which they have been working to transform into a mandatory and recurring ritual at Al-Aqsa Mosque for years.For its part, the “Pidenu” (Temple Mount in Our Hands) organization launched a campaign to distribute “Temple” flags to occupation soldiers in various combat units, coinciding with its preparations for a large-scale attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Feast of Sukkot.These groups are seeking to impose new Judaization realities at Al-Aqsa Mosque by publicly performing Talmudic rituals in its courtyards, introducing so-called “holiday offerings,” and raising the flags of the occupation. These steps are described as an attempt to consolidate the Jewish presence within the mosque and impose temporal and spatial division.Widespread calls continue from Jerusalemites and the occupied Palestinian territories to mobilize and rally around Al-Aqsa Mosque and its courtyards to thwart the plans of the occupation and its settlers.She emphasized that the presence at Al-Aqsa Mosque at this critical time represents popular steadfastness in the face of the occupation’s escalation, and a clear message that Al-Aqsa Mosque is a red line that cannot be crossed, regardless of the circumstances and challenges.
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