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12 Oct, 2015

Jewish Fanatics Resume Provocative Visits to Al-Aqsa Compound Amid Growing Tension

JERUSALEM, October 11, 2015 (WAFA) – Jewish fanatics resumed their provocative visits to al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on Sunday, despite of an apparently ongoing uprising in the West Bank and Jerusalem districts prompted by Jewish entry to the Islamic holy site.

WAFA correspondent said small groups of Jewish settlers entered the compound from the Moroccan Gate under heavy police protection on Sunday morning.

Police also continued to prevent 52 listed Palestinian women from entering the site, while imposing age restrictions on the entry of Palestinians.

Last month, the site witnessed renewing clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian worshipers, prompted by the entry of Jewish fanatics who organize provocative visits to the site to mark Jewish holidays.

Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest place for Muslims, has since 1967 been the center of the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict. While it is widely known as Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jews refer to the site as the “Temple Mount” and believe it was the site of two Jewish temples destroyed in ancient times.

Entry of Jews to the holy site, coupled by other factors, recently fueled a growing Palestinian uprising in Jerusalem and the West Bank districts as well as in the 1948 lands, with more than 23 Palestinians killed by Israeli army and security forces since the start of October alone. Some 1,100 others have also been injured.