Today, on Monday, Minister of Waqf and Religious Affairs Hatem al-Bakri stated that Israeli settlers, under the protection of Israeli police, have invaded the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque 23 times, both in the morning and evening.
Al-Bakri added in a statement that these settler intrusions included the performance of Talmudic rituals and provocative tours in the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in an attempt to impose temporal and spatial divisions.
He continued, 'The settlers celebrated a Jewish engagement ceremony near the Western Wall and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Additionally, the occupation prevented the completion of restoration work in the Al-Aqsa Mosque.'
He pointed out that the occupation prevented the call to prayer 51 times at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, in addition to closing it on the sixteenth of last month, citing Jewish holidays as a pretext. The occupation also prevented worshippers from praying in it and attacked the Shibli Corner and Mosque in the Old City after breaking the windows of shrines and the mosque.
Al-Bakri emphasized that what the occupation has been doing recently in increasing attacks on mosques and religious sites is part of a policy aimed at religious and ethnic cleansing. He called on citizens and all institutions to fulfill their duties to combat the occupation's plans to control the Old City.
He also called for strengthening the presence in the Al-Aqsa Mosque to thwart settler incursions and thwart their schemes.
