Jewish settlers raided al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem again on Sunday, after a two-day hiatus, according to a Sky News Arabia report. The report added that Israeli troops dispersed protests by Palestinians outside the holy Muslim mosque.
Palestinian Maan News Agency quoted the Palestinian ministry for Islamic endowments as saying that 146 settlers invaded the mosque’s yard early Sunday under tight guardianship, and that 60 Palestinians had been denied entry, mostly women.
The troops also cracked down on protests by Palestinian journalists in the Old City, Sky News Arabia reported, adding that Israeli forces had wounded a Palestinian child and detained seven others during encounters on Saturday, north of Jerusalem.
Several Palestinians were wounded and others detained since the raids began.
Though both Israelis and Palestinians lay claim to the city as their capital, Israel annexed the holy city to its authority in 1980.
Hardline Jewish groups have called for the mosque to be demolished, claiming it is the site of an ancient Jewish temple. Palestinian authorities have occasionally warned of Israeli excavations that threaten the mosque’s structure.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday he was eager to preserve the “status quo” in Jerusalem amid encounters with Palestinians objecting to settlers' forays into the mosque.
"We are not the ones changing the status quo. The ones behind the wild and baseless incitement – such as that Israel is trying to prevent Muslim prayer at the Temple Mount, or other wild accusations – are the ones causing the incitement," he was quoted by the Jerusalem Post during a weekly government meeting.
The settlers’ raids had drawn condemnation from Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who described them as a “dangerous violation of Islamic holy places". During a Sisi a press conference with European Union president Donald Tusk, Sisi urged Israel to take "immediate and effective steps" to defuse tensions.
