‘Israeli’ Forces Attack Palestinian Worshipers in Al-Aqsa Mosque

By Staff, Agencies

‘Israeli’ occupation regime forces attacked Palestinians at the Damascus Gate of the occupied al-Quds, severely beating worshipers and arrested many of them on the second night of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

It is customary for the Zionist regime forces to exhibit increased levels of violence against Palestinians gathering in the area during the fasting month of Ramadan.

On Saturday, ‘Israeli’ police arrested four Palestinians during a night of tensions in the Old City of al-Quds.

But the occupation regime forces resorted to more violent means of crackdown on Sunday, hurling stun grenades and gas canisters and severely beating worshipers returning from evening prayers at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

At least 20 Palestinians were injured in the confrontations and 10 were detained, mostly by plain-clothed officers who embedded themselves into the crowd.

Palestinians in return threw rocks and other projectiles toward the Zionist forces.

Earlier in the day, dozens of illegal settlers -- escorted by ‘Israeli’ occupation forces-- stormed al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied al-Quds. This happened as the ‘Israeli’ police imposed movement restrictions on Muslim worshipers at the mosque’s entrances and gates on the second day of Ramadan.

Tensions are boiling across the occupied territories after ‘Israeli’ forces shot dead three Palestinians in the West Bank city of Jenin on Saturday.

The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad said the martyrs were its members, identifying them as Saeb Abhera, 30, Khalil Tawalbeh, 24, and Saif Abu Libdeh, 25.

The Palestinian resistance movement described the killings as an aggression against all Palestinians and an assault on the sanctity of the holy month of Ramadan. It vowed that the blood of the martyrs will not go in vain.

Palestinians have ramped up their retaliations against ‘Israeli’ occupation forces in recent weeks, carrying out a series of operations that have killed at least 11 Zionists since March 22. Eight Palestinians have also been martyred during the same period.

On Tuesday night, a Palestinian man identified as Diaa Hamarsheh killed five Zionists, including a policeman, before being shot dead in the ultra-orthodox settlement of Bnei Brak east of Tel Aviv.

The operation came days after two Palestinian gunmen killed two ‘Israeli’ forces and wounded four others in a shooting attack in the northern ‘Israeli’-occupied city of Hadera before being shot dead.