As Israeli settlers stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied Old City of al-Quds in yet another provocative move against Palestinian worshipers, Israeli forces have killed a 16-year-old Palestinian teenager during a military raid on a refugee camp in the occupied eastern West Bank city of Ariha.
According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, fights broke out shortly after Israeli forces raided the Aqabat Jaber refugee camp on Monday morning to arrest activists with dozens of armored vehicles and Special Forces.
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The report added that Israeli soldiers discharged shots aimlessly at neighborhood occupants, hitting one in the head, chest, and stomach. He died later from his severe gunshot wounds. Two different Palestinians were struck in the lower portions of the body. Mohammad Fayez Balhan, 15, was later identified as the victim by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Neighborhood sources said Israeli fighters had encircled the camp from all sides prior to entering it to keep activists.
In the meantime, under the supervision of the regime’s forces, more than 1,500 Israeli settlers entered the al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard through the Moroccan Gate, also known as the Mughrabi Gate. The sacred site was also the scene of provocative rituals by Israeli settlers.
According to reports in the media, occupation forces had earlier stormed the mosque and removed Palestinian worshippers in order to make room for the settlers’ incursions.
Palestinians are enraged when provocative Israeli officials and settlers regularly storm the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied city. These massive settler break-ins almost always take place in al-Quds under the direction of Israeli police and at the direction of temple groups supported by Tel Aviv.
The Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock are housed in the compound of the al-Aqsa Mosque, which is just above the Western Wall plaza.
A decades-old agreement between Jordan, the custodian of Islamic and Christian sites in al-Quds, and Israel in response to Israel’s occupation of East al-Quds in 1967 permits Jewish visitors to al-Aqsa, but non-Muslim worship is prohibited there.
