The Jerusalem Governorate considered that the storming of nearly a thousand settlers into the Al-Aqsa Mosque today, Tuesday, the first day of the Jewish “Sukkot” holiday, under tight protection from Israeli occupation forces, represents an escalating continuation of the Israeli approach aimed at imposing a new reality inside the mosque and consolidating control over it, in blatant violation of the existing historical and legal status.

The governorate confirmed in a statement issued this evening that these incursions are part of an organized colonial plan led by the extremist “Temple” groups, with direct support from the right-wing occupation government that adopts the ideology of these groups and provides them with political and legal cover, through the enactment of a system of laws, instructions, and field occupation procedures that multiply and legalize the incursions and entrench Israeli control over the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

It added that the occupation forces have turned the Old City and the surroundings of the mosque into a military barracks.

The Jerusalem Governorate pointed out that the occupation police had previously announced allowing six groups of settlers to storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque simultaneously every ten minutes, an unprecedented step reflecting a systematic policy to intensify the number of intruders, which constitutes a dangerous escalation in efforts to impose temporal and spatial division of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The governorate added that the settlers performed Talmudic rituals and provocative dances in front of the Noble Dome of the Rock, carrying plant offerings (palm fronds, willow branches, and citron fruits) at the King Faisal and Council gates, in a scene reflecting the magnitude of the violation and the desecration of the sanctity of the holy site, and an attempt to turn Al-Aqsa Mosque into a stage for Torah rituals, as part of a clear endeavor to Judaize it and change its religious and historical features.

The Jerusalem Governorate warned of the danger of these practices that exploit Jewish religious occasions to escalate attacks on Jerusalemites and Islamic holy sites, by imposing restrictions and collective punishments on citizens, closing checkpoints, preventing worshippers from entering Al-Aqsa, and tightening restrictions on them, while facilitating settlers’ incursions.

The governorate called on the international community, relevant United Nations organizations, and the Arab and Islamic nations to urgently act to stop these serious violations against the Al-Aqsa Mosque and preserve the existing historical and legal status, as it is a purely Islamic endowment with all its courtyards and landmarks.