The Al-Aqsa Mosque in east Jerusalem has been subject to frequent raids, assaults and detentions over the decades [Getty/file photo]
Israeli authorities on Sunday closed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied east Jerusalem, prohibiting worshippers from accessing the holy site.
The Israeli forces forcibly removed worshippers from the mosque, sparking tensions in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Only a number of mosque guards and employees of the Islamic Waqf Department were permitted entry, according to Palestinian media.
This comes after Israeli forces arrested four guards at the sacred mosque in a raid on Saturday night, inside the compound’s old prayer hall.
Those detained were identified as Mohammad Arbash, Ramzi Al-Zaanin, Basem Abu Juma and Iyad Odeh. Israeli forces also interrogated several other guards at the mosque, the Palestinian news agency Wafa said.
Israeli forces damaged some of the prayer hall’s contents searching and vandalising the mosque’s cabinets, some of which contained copies of the Quran, Wafa added.
The Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate said Israel’s actions were the latest in a series of incidents seeking to assert control over the holy site’s administration and undermine the authority of the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem, which oversees the mosque.
This came after nine days of continuous closure of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, including six days of complete closure and three days of partial closure. During this period, the number of worshippers was restricted to approximately 500, according to The New Arab’s affiliate, Arab48.
Israeli forces have imposed a so-called “state of emergency” around the mosque linked to the ongoing conflict with Iran.
Israeli authorities, however, have routinely imposed restrictions in and around the holy site, and carry out frequent assaults and arrests on Palestinian worshippers.
