WEST BANK (Dispatches) – The Palestine Scholars Association (PSA) has warned of a massive break-in by Zionist settler groups at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Al-Quds, urging Muslim worshippers to gather in large numbers to defend the holy site.
In a press release, Nasim Yassin, Deputy Head of the association said that Zionist settlers intend to desecrate the compound en masse on July 18, on the anniversary of the alleged destruction of the Second Temple, the Palestinian Information Center reported on Sunday.
“The Zionist extremists plan on the anniversary, which their Torah calls the temple destruction anniversary when the second temple was demolished according to their claims, to make up for what they failed to do on Ramadan 28 when they announced their intents to break into the Aqsa Mosque, publicly perform rituals inside it, and demonstrate their sovereignty claims over the holy site through raising Zionist flags and playing the Zionist anthem,” he said.
Yassin further stressed the need for Palestinians to get prepared to confront and foil the intended mass desecration by settlers.
He also described the intensive presence of Muslim worshipers at the compound as the best option to defend it, calling on Palestinians to attend in large numbers on July 18 to protect the holy site against the Jewish settlers.

Calls for More Protests
Against Land Grab

Meanwhile, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has called on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank to continue their protest rallies against the Zionist regime and its settlers to foil the regime’s land grab policy and expansionism.
Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif al-Qanou in a press release on Sunday urged Palestinians in the West Bank to continue their protests against the Zionist enemy and Zionist settlers “at all points of confrontation” in a bid to foil their racist schemes and plans for expansion of illegal settlements, al-Ahd news website reported.
His comments came as Zionist troops on Saturday and Friday wounded more than 410 Palestinians, who had held anti-settlement protests in Beita, Beit Dajan, Kafr Qaddoum, Qasra, Jaba’, Tarqumiya and various villages, towns and cities of the occupied West Bank.
Qanou praised Palestinians’ struggle for their rights during recent protests against the occupying regime and its illegal settlements.
The Hamas official added that “continuing popular demonstrations against settlements and constant clashes with the occupation forces would thwart the regime’s land grab policy”, hailing the “valor of Palestinians and the permanence of their uprising in imposing their will on the Zionist occupier.”
Over the past two months, Beita has seen intensified clashes between Zionist troops and Palestinians protesting against a settlement outpost that has been recently established on the mountain by settlers under the protection of the Zionist troops.
The protesters urge the international community and human rights organizations to shoulder their responsibility and protect the Palestinians from the persistent Zionist attacks.
More than 600,000 Zionists live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Al-Quds.
All settlements are illegal under international law as they are built on occupied land. The United Nations Security Council has condemned the regime’s settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.