LOC13:48
10:48 GMT
RAMALLAH, Sept 24 (KUNA) -- Hundreds of extremist settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque Wednesday morning under heavy protection from Israeli occupation forces, the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem reported.
The department stated that at least 328 settlers entered through Al-Maghariba Gate, which was later closed after the incursion, eyewitnesses reported that the settlers entered in groups, escorted by Israeli occupation police.
The Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) the Jerusalem Affairs Department stated that these actions amount a systematic escalation amid at reshaping the status of the Mosque to serve the Israeli occupation's agenda.
The department stressed that the Israeli occupation no longer treats the incursions as isolated incidents but rather seeks to impose a new reality reducing the Islamic presence and expanding settler dominance, in a bid to enforce temporal division similar to that imposed at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.
It added that the growing number of international recognitions of the State of Palestine constitutes a practical response to Israeli occupation attempts to assert colonial control over Jerusalem and its holy sites, reflecting a global conviction of the illegality of such violations.
The statement reaffirmed that safeguarding Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem is a cornerstone for securing the Palestinian people's right to an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital. (end)
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