Settlers storm al-Aqsa mosque; 1,490 attacks reported in WB in October

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
3 Nov 2024 14:07

Hundreds of Israeli settlers have stormed the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied al-Quds, accompanied by Israeli occupation police.

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The supermoon rises behind the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of al-Quds, Palestine, August 19, 2024. (AP)

Israeli settlers stormed the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied al-Quds on Sunday under the protection of the Israeli occupation police.

During the incursion, dozens of settlers conducted provocative tours and rituals on the mosque's grounds all while being escorted by the Israeli occupation police.

Concurrently, Israeli occupation forces prevented students in the West Bank from reaching their school in al-Khalil. Students at Ziad Jaber Elementary School were also barred from accessing their school in the Jaber neighborhood of the Old Town of occupied al-Quds due to the road being blocked with barbed wire.

Jaber added that the IOF typically close the street and prevent students from accessing their schools during Jewish holidays to secure the passage of settlers to the Ibrahimi Mosque.

Arrests and Injuries in al-Khalil, Ramallah, and Qalqilya

Israeli occupation forces detained two Palestinians from Al-Fawwar refugee camp south of al-Khalil on Sunday.

Security sources told the Palestinian News Agency WAFA that the IOF stormed Al-Fawwar camp, searched several homes, and detained Khaled Abu Omar and Salah al-Din al-Maghalasa after raiding their homes.

Meanwhile, the IOF tightened its closure of the gates and entrances to the city of Al-Khalil and its surrounding towns, refugee camps, and neighborhoods in the Old City.

Israeli forces also detained four Palestinians from the Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorates, including 70-year-old Saleh Hassan Ankoosh and his two sons, Hassan and Youssef, after raiding their homes in the village of Deir Abu Mishal, west of Ramallah. A young man named Salam Ayad was also detained in the town of Silwad, east of Ramallah.

Additionally, the IOF opened fire on a Palestinian vehicle in the village of Al-Midya, west of Ramallah, causing it to collide with a concrete wall. No injuries or arrests were reported in that incident. Furthermore, the IOF raided the towns and villages of Ni'lin, Deir Qaddis, Beit Sira, Beit Luqia, and Kafr Ni'meh, all located west of Ramallah.

The incursions carried out by IOF also extended to the Qalandiya refugee camp north of al-Quds and the town of Jaba, south of Jenin, in the West Bank.

1,490 attacks by IOF and settlers in the West Bank during October

The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission reported that Israeli occupation forces and settler groups carried out a total of 1,490 attacks in the West Bank during October.

According to the commission's monthly report, titled "Occupation Violations and Colonial Expansion Measures," Israeli forces were responsible for 1,130 attacks, while settler gangs conducted 360 assaults. The majority of these incidents were concentrated in the Nablus governorate, with 307 attacks, followed by al-Khalil with 280, and al-Quds with 179.

These attacks ranged from armed assaults on Palestinian villages to the imposition of facts on the ground, including extrajudicial killings, land destruction, tree uprooting, property confiscation, and the establishment of closures and checkpoints that disrupt the geographic continuity of Palestinian territories.

Settlers also engaged in 245 acts of vandalism and theft against Palestinians, which included 26 incidents of olive crop theft, 22 cases of olive-picking equipment theft, and the theft of 15 tents and caravans belonging to Palestinians, as well as three instances of vehicle theft.