AL-QUDS (Dispatches) – Scores of Zionists on Wednesday forced their way into the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Al-Quds, according to a Palestinian agency and reported by Anadolu Agency.
In a statement, the Al-Quds Islamic Waqf said 150 settlers guarded by Zionist troops stormed the compound. It said more settlers are expected to “tour the site” later in the day.
Zionist settler groups have called for large-scale incursions into the complex as part of celebrations of the week-long Jewish festival of Hanukkah, which began on Sunday.
Usually, Zionist settlers storm the Al-Aqsa complex every day in the morning and afternoon through its Mughrabi Gate, southwest of the Mosque, which is controlled by occupation authorities.
Zionist police began allowing the settler incursions in 2003, despite repeated condemnation from the Al-Quds Islamic Waqf.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world’s third-holiest site for Muslims.
The Zionist regime occupied East Al-Quds, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.
It annexed the entire city in 1980, a move never recognized by the international community.
Meanwhile, Zionist troops on Wednesday raided Khirbet Al Ras Al Ahmar in the northern occupied Jordan Valley and seized Palestinian vehicles, Wafa news agency reported.
Speaking to the Palestinian news site, Mutaz Bisharat, an official with the Tubas governorate, said that the soldiers raided the village and seized several vehicles, farming tractors, and water tankers.
According to Bisharat, the regime troops also raided, searched, and ransacked several homes in the area.
The Palestinian community in the Jordan Valley is subject to daily harassment by occupation forces and settlers in an effort to force them to leave the area in order to annex it and expand illegal settlements.
In a recent development, more than 30 universities across the UK have faced calls from their students to divest from apartheid Zionist regime.
In an effort to mark the International Day of Solidarity with Palestine, a National Day of Solidarity on Campus was organized by pro-Palestinian NGO FOA, who launched a campaign for students to write to their Vice-Chancellors demanding that they divest from companies complicit in the oppression of Palestinians.
Citing the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report that says the Zionist regime is committing the crimes of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians, students at LSE, Nottingham, Birmingham, Plymouth, Glasgow, and others demanded their institutions withdraw investment from companies complicit in human rights abuses in occupied Palestine, particularly Rolls-Royce PLC, Hewlett Packard (HP), BAE Systems and Booking.com.
“Rolls-Royce manufactures parts of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighters used by Israel to attack civilians in Gaza, and HP provides the technology for the control systems in Israel’s checkpoints, which violate Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” FOA said in a statement.