AL-QUDS (Dispatches) – A group of Zionists try to circumvent a ban on non-Muslims praying at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound by disguising themselves as Muslims and joining rows of worshippers during communal prayers.
Following the regime’s occupation of East Al-Quds in 1967, a delicate status quo was agreed with Jordan – the custodian of Islamic sites in the city – giving Muslims the sole right to pray at Al-Aqsa and Jews at the nearby Western Wall.
The Al-Aqsa compound or al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) is Islam’s third-holiest site. It encompasses the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, from where Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) ascended to heaven.
The Returning to the Mount encourages Zionists to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound by sneaking in among Muslim worshippers.
According to the group, tens of Zionists circumvent the ban on a daily basis at times, and the number of people contacting the group to seek guidance on entering and praying at the site continues to rise.
The group members go as far as taking Arabic classes, learning enough of the language and verses from the holy Qur’an to talk their way through security checkpoints without getting caught by police or Palestinian security guards at the compound gates.
“There are tens of thousands of Muslims who pass through these gates every day. Our target is to blend in and not get caught,” Raphael Morris, a member of the group, told Al Jazeera as he showed some of the “costumes” he wears to enter the site.
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has warned the occupying regime of dire consequences if extremist Zionist settlers desecrate the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during an upcoming Jewish festival.
In a statement, Hamas said there would be dire consequences if Zionist groups dared to desecrate the holy site during their upcoming Purim festival holiday this week.
The extremist settlers have already declared their intent to defile the Al-Aqsa Mosque on March 16 and 17 to mark the Jewish occasion under the full protection of Zionist troops.
The statement described the provocative calls for celebrating the event at the holy mosque as “a violation of all the heavenly religions and norms” and “a direct provocation to the Palestinian people and the Muslim nation.”
In another development, dozens of Palestinians were injured after Zionist police stormed the northern part of West Bank, amid renewed tensions over the occupying regime military’s killing of three young Palestinians across the occupied territories.
Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said clashes broke out between Palestinians and Zionist troops after settlers stormed Joseph’s Tomb on the outskirts of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, desecrating the site venerated by Jews, Christians and Muslims.
Hundreds of settlers arrived at the site on board a number of buses on Tuesday evening, and broke into the tomb amid protection by Zionist troopers.
Violence erupted when Palestinians engaged in clashes with the troopers, who fired rubber-coated steel bullets, stun grenades and tear gas canisters to disperse the protesting crowd.
A number of Palestinians were struck with rubber-coated bullets. Several others suffered chest tightness, coughing and a choking sensation, as they had been exposed to tear gas fired by Zionist troops.
On Tuesday, Zionist troops shot three Palestinians dead, including a teenager, in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank and in the Naqab (Negev) desert.