Israeli settlers at Al-Aqsa mosque to celebrate Sucot

Segundo local palestinian sources cited by the agency, the settlers entered successive groups, escorted under strong protection of the israeli police, and performed talmudic rituals and prayers in the courtyards of the enclosure.

According to Wafa, the Israeli authorities have closed the traffic at the doors of the Moroccans and Lions, two of the accesses to the Al-Aqsa mosque complex, to ensure the passage of participants in rituals, causing congestion and restricting the movement of Palestinian residents.

This journey follows another one that took place on Sunday, when about 1,500 settlers and rabbis entered the Mosque Esplanade and prayed, especially in the vicinity of the Al-Qatanin Gate (also known as the Door of the Cotton Merchants and another access to the Al-Aqsa mosque complex), having introduced in the enclosure the so-called "vegetable offerings" of Sucot, before the Door of the Moroccans was closed.

According to Jerusalem's administrative authorities, 40,661 settlers entered Al-Aqsa between January and the end of August, while from the beginning of the year until the beginning of September, some 800 orders were issued that prohibited residents of Jerusalem from accessing the mosque.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque is considered the third most sacred site in Islam, after Mecca and Medina, in Saudi Arabia.

At the same time, the Israeli forces closed the access of Palestinians to the Tomb of Patriarchs in the city of Hebron in the West Bank by Wednesday, claiming the Jewish festivities.

The temple director Mutaz Abu Sneineh condemned the closure, which he classified as a “flagrant violation” of the sanctity of the site and an attack on the right of Muslims to access their places of worship.

Israeli troops also closed down all checkpoints and electronic doors giving access to the site, strengthened their presence at the entrances and closed down some markets of the Old Town of Hebron to ensure the passage of the settlers celebrating the festival in the enclosure, known by the Jews as the Tomb of the Patriarchs and divided into a Muslim and Jewish part since 1994.