Some 1,390 illegal Israeli settlers forced their way into the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, Anadolu reports according to a Palestinian agency.
The Jordan-run Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem said the settlers entered the flashpoint site through the Mughrabi Gate in the western wall of the mosque under the protection of Israeli police.
According to witnesses, far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir joined the illegal settlers in performing Talmudic rituals at the site amid restrictions on the entry of Muslim worshippers into the complex.
Ben-Gvir’s office, however, said the extremist minister did not enter the site but welcomed Israeli settlers at the entrance of the complex.
