Al-Aqsa Mosque: Muslim Night Worshippers Forced Out by Occupiers
Last night, the Israeli occupation police raided Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, located in the Old City of al-Quds, and expelled everyone inside, including the Waqf staff and the night worshippers, witnesses said.
They said the police shut down all the gates to the holy compound and barred people from entering it without giving any reason for their actions, Wafa News Agency reported.
The female night worshippers decided to continue their vigil at the stairs of Damascus Gate, the main entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem, in protest of the police action before they were also forced to leave the area by the police.
The police move is believed to be related to clearing the Muslim holy compound of Palestinian worshippers when the extremist Jews begin their morning incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The gates to Al-Aqsa Mosque were later reopened but only older people were allowed in.
This morning, dozens of Jewish radicals and settlers invaded Al-Aqsa Mosque and roamed its courtyards, some performing Jewish rituals in violation of the status quo, which states that only Muslims can pray in the walled compound.
Muslims usually pray all night and day at Al-Aqsa Mosque during the first 10 days of the lunar month of Dhu al-Hijja, which reaches a climax on the 10th of the month with the pilgrimage in Mecca.
Source: Agencies
