Mohammed Mar'i Saudi Gazette RAMALLAH – A group of Jewish settlers on Sunday stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque Complex in occupied Jerusalem for prayers, a Palestinian official said. Sheikh Najeh Bkeirat, the Al-Aqsa Mosque Complex manager, said that 180 settlers, including 18 rabbis, entered the compound through the Al-Magharebah gate. Bkeirat added that settlers toured the Al-Aqsa Mosque plaza under the heavy guard of Israeli police and Border Guard officers. The group started provoking the Muslim worshipers. The official said that the almost daily storming of the Muslim's third holiest shrine is part of the Israeli measures to Judaize what has been left of Jerusalem “by intensifying the Jewish presence in it.” He warned that “the visits of Jewish settlers during the blessed month of Ramadan may provoke Muslims.” The development comes two weeks after Rabbi Yaakov Medan of Har (Mount) Etzion seminary said that the Israeli internal intelligence service Shin Bet supports the visits. “The Shin Bet Jewish Division Director told me that Jewish presence on the Temple Mount (Al-Aqsa Mosque complex) is essential for maintaining our sovereignty. He told me that in order to accommodate this trend he would increase the number of agents and security personnel on the Temple Mount,” Medan told participants in the Begin Center Conference on the complex on Friday. Several Jewish rabbis say that the Halacha (Jewish religious law) forbids Jews to ascend to the complex, both because of its sanctity and because of the political repercussions their presence may have. Palestinian Minister of Awqaf and Religious Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash urged the Palestinian people to intensify its presence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque Complex during Ramadan despite Israeli restrictions.
