Israeli raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque persist through Ramadan

Scores of settlers stormed the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the morning of 28 March for the third consecutive day under heavy protection from Israeli troops, performing provocative Talmudic rituals and intimidating Palestinian worshippers.

According to local sources in Jerusalem, settlers stormed the mosque compound through the Mughrabi Gate, accompanied by former Knesset member and extremist rabbi Yehuda Glick, as well as a large force of Israeli troops.

This is the third day in a row that a large group of settlers is escorted into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound under heavy Israeli protection, coinciding with the fifth day of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

On Monday, 27 March, at least 98 settlers entered the mosque through the Mughrabi Gate under the escort of Israeli police. The settlers performed Talmudic rituals and received lectures from rabbis while troops imposed movement and entry restrictions on Palestinian worshippers, forcibly removing some of them from the holy site to make way for settlers.

A day earlier, on Sunday, 26 March, Israeli police raided the holy site and forcibly evicted several Palestinian worshippers from the area. Settlers then proceeded to make their way into Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard through the Mughrabi Gate.

The night before, on the evening of Saturday, 25 March, hundreds of Palestinians were removed from the mosque compound by Israeli troops. According to witnesses, at least two worshippers were arrested.

These harsh measures are part of a customary Israeli policy of harassing Palestinian worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is exacerbated during the month of Ramadan every year for ‘security’ reasons.

Settler incursions into the holy site are very frequent and take place on a weekly and sometimes almost daily basis.

Under the highly extremist Jewish supremacist rhetoric of Israel’s current government, settler incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque are encouraged even more so than before. In general, settler violence against Palestinians has surged significantly as a result of the government’s policy and ideology.

This violence is egged on by high-ranking government officials, as was seen recently with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s call to eradicate the West Bank town of Huwara. Israeli violence has also been increasingly targeting Palestinian Christians.

As settler violence surges and Israeli troops step up their bloody raids in the occupied West Bank, civil strife and popular unrest are through the roof in Israel as a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul plan.

Daily Israeli protests have rocked the occupied territories, and Israel’s society has reached an unprecedented level of polarization and fragmentation.

As a result of the chaos, the judicial reforms have been postponed until May – however, they are still on the table. In the words of Israeli officials themselves, Israel’s security situation is at its worst in decades.