Approximately 2,300 Israeli settlers forcibly entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem since this morning. According to foreign media reports, Palestinian authorities say this is one of the largest actions this year, which took place on the occasion of the Jewish religious festival of Tisha B'Av. Media reports state that the Jewish religious festival of Tisha B'Av is celebrated as a commemoration of the destruction of the Temple in Jewish tradition, a site known to Muslims as the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to Jews as the Temple Mount. Israel's far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, also entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound under heavy police security. The Palestinian administration of the Jerusalem Governorate said the number of Israelis entering the holy site is likely to increase by sunset. They stated that Israeli forces have imposed strict security restrictions on the entrances to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the surrounding areas of the Old City of Jerusalem, with a large number of personnel deployed in the compound, and Palestinian worshippers were prevented from entering the mosque. According to the governorate, only a limited number of Palestinians managed to reach the Al-Aqsa Mosque for dawn prayers, however, Israeli forces allegedly used violence against several worshippers and local residents. The Jerusalem Governorate reported that over 900 Jewish settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards to commemorate the so-called destruction of the Temple, which took place amid the continuous arrival of groups of Jewish settlers, after the occupying police allowed an increase in the number of individuals in each group to approximately 150 Jewish settlers. The occupying forces took the most severe measures to prevent worshippers from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which coincided with appeals by extremist Temple groups to escalate the storming of the mosque during this occasion. The governorate confirmed that the occupying forces continued to take severe measures at the gates of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and around the Old City, preventing worshippers from entering the mosque, and indicated that only a very limited number of worshippers were able to reach the mosque and perform their prayers during dawn prayers, before the occupying forces targeted several citizens and worshippers with violence. They pointed to the massive deployment of occupying forces in the various courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The governorate clarified that the Jewish settlers continued to perform Talmudic rituals during their storming, including wearing 'Tefillin' and performing the so-called 'prostration of greatness' in the eastern part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in addition to chanting slogans and reciting prayers aloud, while the extremist Temple groups continued to mobilize their supporters in an effort to reach their target of 5,000 Jewish settlers during today's storming. The Jerusalem Governorate had previously warned of an escalation in plots by extremist Temple organizations to carry out the largest collective storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the commemoration of the so-called destruction of the Temple. The governorate emphasized that the Al-Aqsa Mosque, with its entire area of 144 dunums, is purely Islamic, and all Israeli measures aimed at changing its identity, character, or its historical and legal status are null and void.
