Alwaght- Right-wing extremist members of Israeli regime’s parliament (Knesset) have stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied al-Quds (Jerusalem) after raising more tensions in the revered Islamic site.
Accompanied by heavily-armed police, Yehuda Glick, of Netanyahu's Likud party, and Shuli Mualem-Rafaeli, of the Jewish Home, went to the site early on Tuesday as part of a one-day trial period.
The sacrilegious storming of al-Aqsa mosque came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lifted a ban on Knesset members' visits to the holy site imposed in October 2015.
Israeli police and special unit officers were deployed in large numbers at the holy site as far-right settler groups and Knesset members flooded through the Moroccan Gate as part of a one-day trial for such visits.
Palestinian leaders condemned the move, with Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for the Palestinian presidency, saying that the Israeli government was responsible for the provocations at the compound.
The al-Aqsa Mosque compound's director Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani reacted to Netanyahu's decision to lift the ban, saying that the Israeli prime minister "is trying to show that he controls al-Aqsa Mosque." However, imposing facts on the ground "through the barrel of a gun and through occupation does not give them the right to control al-Aqsa," he said.
He added that al-Aqsa Mosque "belongs to Arab Palestinians and Muslims" and reiterated that the site is under Jordanian custody. "These incursions are provocative to all Muslims, and are viewed as an Israeli escalation to disturb Muslims on the eve of Eid al-Adha," he said, referring to the Muslim holiday that begins on Thursday.
Many Palestinians and rights groups fear that right-wing groups calling for the destruction of the al-Aqsa Mosque to make way for a third Jewish temple are gaining growing influence in Netanyahu’s right-wing government.
Over the past decades, the Israeli regime has tried to change the demographic makeup of al-Quds by constructing illegal settlements, destroying historical sites and expelling the local Palestinian population.
The al-Aqsa mosque, which lies in the Israeli-occupied Old City of al-Quds, is Islam’s third-holiest site after Mecca and Medina.
