On the fifth day of Ramadan.. Settlers storm Al-Aqsa amid escalating arrest campaigns in the West Bank

Dozens of extremist settlers stormed the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque this Sunday afternoon, on the fifth day of the month of Ramadan, under strict protection from the Israeli occupation police. Local sources reported that the intruders carried out provocative tours and performed Talmudic rituals in the courtyards, in a move aimed at consecrating the temporal and spatial division of Islamic holy sites.

These incursions come as part of a revised timetable by the alleged Temple groups in cooperation with the occupation authorities, where the period of incursions during the holy month extends for five continuous hours, starting from early morning until just before noon. These measures aim to restrict Palestinian worshippers who face severe restrictions in accessing the mosque since the beginning of the month.

In a related context, the occupation forces launched a wide-ranging arrest campaign in the West Bank since the beginning of Ramadan, affecting more than 100 Palestinian citizens. On Sunday morning, the arrests targeted 8 citizens from Qalqilya Governorate and Azzun town, including three children: Yahya, Yaqoub, and Rashad Salim, in addition to other young men identified as Aboud Noufal, Amir Khader, and Adham Oweinat.

Field data indicates that the occupation continues its systematic policy of abuse, with the number of prisoners in jails rising to more than 9,300, including 350 children and 66 female prisoners living in harsh conditions. These arrests coincide with the tightening of the military stranglehold through nearly 1,000 fixed and mobile checkpoints that cut off cities and villages in the West Bank.

In occupied Jerusalem, the occupation authorities forced citizen Majdi Attia to self-demolish his home in the town of Issawiya, under threat of exorbitant fines and demolition costs by occupation machinery. This policy is part of forced displacement plans targeting the Palestinian presence in the holy city and the vicinity of the Old City.

Violations were not limited to Jerusalem but extended to the village of Al-Mughayyir, where 11 Bedouin families from the 'Khalayel community' were forced to leave due to repeated settler attacks. The area witnessed violent attacks that resulted in the injury of four Palestinians, including a child, under the full protection provided by the occupation army to settler groups in Masafer Yatta and Al-Mughayyir.

These developments reflect a dangerous escalation since October 2023, with official statistics indicating the martyrdom of 1,117 and the injury of approximately 11,500 others in the West Bank. The total number of arrests during this period reached about 22,000, as part of a comprehensive campaign aimed at undermining the steadfastness of Palestinians in their lands.

Human rights sources confirmed that the occupation is racing against time to impose new realities in Jerusalem through 'Biblical Gardens' projects and the demolition of homes in the Al-Bustan neighborhood. These plans are accompanied by direct physical assaults on worshippers in Al-Aqsa and the imposition of extensive security measures that isolate the holy city from its geographical surroundings in the West Bank.

It is worth noting that Israeli incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque began to take on an official character by decision of the occupation police since 2003, ignoring all calls issued by the Islamic Endowments Department. Settler groups exploit holidays and religious occasions to increase the pace of these incursions, which usually stop in the last ten days of Ramadan to avoid direct confrontations.

Palestinians emphasize that these practices, which include killing, arrest, demolition, and settlement expansion, fall within a comprehensive war of extermination aimed at obliterating the Arab and Islamic identity of the region. Despite all restrictions and barriers, thousands continue to march towards Al-Aqsa Mosque to affirm the Islamic nature of the place and reject the accelerating Judaization policies.

The incursions represent part of the occupation's attempts to impose a changing reality in the mosque and the occupied city, and to obliterate its Arab and Islamic identity.