As tens of thousands of worshipers offered Eid al-Adha prayers at the revered site in occupied East al-Quds, Israeli forces and Palestinians engaged in combat at the premises.
On Wednesday, more than 100,000 Muslims attended prayers to mark Eid al-Adha, also known as the Feast of Sacrifice, at the al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site for Muslims.
According to the Palestinian Wafa news agency, they arrived from every corner of the occupied Palestinian territories in spite of Israeli police roadblocks and searches that kept many people from reaching the holy site.
At least 18 Palestinian worshipers were detained inside the holy compound after Israeli forces stormed it, drove worshipers out of the Bab al-Rahma prayer area, and started fighting.
One of the entrances to the Al-Aqsa Mosque is Bab al-Rahma, also referred to as the Gate of Mercy or Golden Gate. Muslims have been barred from the area by the Israeli authorities, who want to convert it into a Jewish settlers’ place of prayer.
Officials from the Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian communities have issued warnings that any alteration to the holy complex’s long-standing status quo could result in violence and religious conflict.
Palestinians contend that the Israeli government is systematically attempting to Jewishize al-Quds, the city home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and to obliterate its Arab and Islamic identity.
One of the most recent proposals was made by a Keenest member earlier this month to divide the time and space at the mosque, which was denounced by Muslims and Palestinians all over the world.
The plot was denounced as a declaration of war by a coalition of Palestinian resistance organizations in the besieged Gaza Strip.
They also blamed the entire far-right Israeli government, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for the serious repercussions of putting the contentious plan into action. The organizations exhorted the entire Muslim world to carry out their responsibilities and thwart the plots of the Tel Aviv regime against al-Quds and al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque are both part of the compound that houses the al-Aqsa Mosque, which is situated above the Western Wall plaza. Non-Muslim worship is not permitted inside the al-Aqsa Mosque, as per a deal made between Israel and the Jordanian government following Israel’s 1967 occupation of East al-Quds.
Many of the right-wing extremist Knesset members in Israel are in favor of demolishing the Islamic site and erecting a Jewish temple in its place.
In the history of the occupying regime, Netanyahu’s current Israeli cabinet is the most extremist one. Since it was founded last year, it has encouraged illegal settlement and introduced a number of apartheid laws that affect Palestinians and Arabs in the occupied territories.
Palestinians consider the eastern portion of al-Quds to be their capital and want the occupied West Bank to be a part of their future independent state.
