Israeli occupation forces perpetrate massacre in Al-Aqsa Mosque

Calls on the international community to intervene to stop the Israeli occupation forces’ attacks in Al-Quds city poured from many dignitaries.

Archbishop Atallah Hanna of Sebastia for the Greek Orthodox has declared that the attack of the Israeli occupation forces on Al-Aqsa Mosque is an attack on  the Church of the Resurrection (AKA The Church of the Holy Sepulchre).

He said in a statement on Monday that the  Palestinian stand is united in defending the land and Holy Shrines and they will foil the Israeli occupation authorities’ attempts to empty Al-Quds city [Jerusalem].

For his part, Al-Quds Governor Adnan Ghaith said that the Israeli occupation forces have perpetrated crimes against Palestinians in Al-Aqsa Mosque, calling on the international community to stop this crime.

 A large Israeli occupation force raided this morning Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s old city and attacked Palestinian worshippers, according to witnesses.

 The Israeli forces fired rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters at the worshippers causing several cases of injuries.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said the police refused to allow its crews to enter the walled Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to evacuate the wounded.

Minister of Al-Quds Affairs pointed out that the Israeli occupation forces’ attacks on fasting worshippers in Al-Aqsa Mosque reveals the ugly reality of the occupation that fired bullets and gas canisters on women, children and elderly, who were in the mosque.

Civil Affairs Minister Hussein Al-Sheikh today stated that the Palestinian leadership was “examining all options” and will respond to the Israeli aggression against Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, according to WAFA News Agency.

Al-Sheikh, who also serves as a Fatah Central Committee member, slammed the Israeli police’s violent aggression against the mosque as a “heinous crime”.

Tension has mounted at Al-Aqsa Mosque and East Jerusalem in general during the month of Ramadan as Israeli police attempted to prevent Palestinians from celebrating their holy month and also as a result of attempts to forcibly evict several Palestinian families out of their homes in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in order to replace them with Israeli settlers.  

Basma Qaddour