Israeli settlers storm Aqsa Mosque under heavy military protection

Hordes of extremist Israeli settlers, protected by heavily armed occupation forces, stormed the blessed Aqsa Mosque on Monday morning and again in the afternoon, while Muslim worshipers faced severe restrictions on their entry.
Eyewitnesses confirmed that dozens of settlers, escorted through the Maghariba Gate, roamed provocatively across the courtyards of Islam’s third holiest site. Guided by radical rabbis, the settlers performed Talmudic rituals and staged provocative dances inside the Mosque compound — a direct insult to Muslim feelings and a serious desecration of the sacred site.
Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces tightened their suffocating restrictions against Palestinian worshipers, blocking many from entering the Mosque to perform their prayers, further entrenching the apartheid policies systematically imposed across Occupied Jerusalem.
In an escalation of provocation, the occupation authorities have blanketed the streets of East Jerusalem and the Old City with Israeli flags in preparation for the Zionist regime’s so-called "independence day" — a painful reminder for Palestinians of the Nakba (Catastrophe) and the ongoing theft of their homeland.
Adding fuel to the fire, extremist settler groups announced plans to raise the Israeli flag inside the Aqsa Mosque compound on May 1st — a brazen act that Palestinians warn could ignite a major confrontation.
The storming of Al-Aqsa and the continuing violations against Palestinian worshipers are part of the occupation’s deliberate attempts to assert control over Jerusalem and erase its Islamic and Arab identity, but Palestinians remain steadfast in defending their holy sites and their right to freedom of worship. (ILKHA)
LEGAL WARNING: All rights of the published news, photos and videos are reserved by İlke Haber Ajansı Basın Yayın San. Trade A.Ş. Under no circumstances can all or part of the news, photos and videos be used without a written contract or subscription.
The fifth round of indirect negotiations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States concluded on Saturday in Rome, Italy, with both sides describing the atmosphere as professional and constructive, though a final agreement remains elusive.
South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense on Friday categorically denied reports suggesting that the United States is considering a significant reduction of its military presence on the Korean Peninsula.
Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza’s Tel al-Zaatar neighborhood issued a desperate plea to the international community on Thursday after an Israeli airstrike ignited a massive fire in its medicine warehouse.
The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, has welcomed a landmark joint statement issued by 80 countries recognizing the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, now entering its eighth month under relentless Israeli bombardment and siege.