Jerusalem: Dozens of diehard Jewish settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque/Haram Al Sharif plaza in occupied Jerusalem on Wednesday, escorted by Israeli police, in the latest breach of one of Islam’s holiest sites. The Islamic Waqf Department, the custodian of the compound, stated that groups of settlers entered the site from the Mughrabi Gate, performing prayers and provocations while Israeli police imposed tight restrictions on Muslim worshippers, some of whom had their IDs seized at the gates.
According to Jordan News Agency, Israeli occupation forces launched search-and-arrest raids across Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank, arresting 23 individuals. These raids occurred in Hebron, Al-Bireh, Ramallah, Nablus, and Jenin, as reported by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club Association.
Elsewhere, Jewish settlers established a new settlement outpost on Palestinian-owned land in Aqraba, southeast of Nablus. They erected tents and prefabricated homes and raised flags on a slope. In addition, the Israeli Civil Administration announced a plan to expand the Otniel settlement, situated on lands of the town of Dahiriya, south of Hebron, which includes the construction of 156 new settler units.
Further south, a group of Jewish settlers, using bulldozers, leveled land in the town of Turmus Aya, northeast of Ramallah, in an attempt to seize property from Palestinian owners. This activity is part of escalating settler attacks on Palestinians and their properties across the West Bank amid international silence and disregard for ongoing breaches of international law by the occupation authority.