Palestinian teenager killed in Israeli military raid in occupied West Bank as settlers storm Aqsa Mosque

Israeli forces have killed a 16-year-old Palestinian teenager during a military raid on a refugee camp in the occupied eastern West Bank city of Ariha, as Israeli settlers have stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied Old City of al-Quds in yet another provocative move against Palestinian worshipers.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that confrontations broke out soon after Israeli forces raided the Aqabat Jaber refugee camp on Monday morning, with dozens of armored vehicles and special forces, to arrest activists.

The report added that Israeli troops fired shots indiscriminately at local residents, hitting one in the head, chest and stomach. He later succumbed to his serious gunshot wounds. Two other Palestinians were struck in the lower parts of the body.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health later identified the victim as 15-year-old Mohammad Fayez Balhan.

Local sources said Israeli soldiers had surrounded the camp from all sides before entering it to detain activists.    

Meanwhile, more than a 1,500 Israeli settlers broke into the courtyard of the al-Aqsa Mosque through the Moroccan Gate, also known as the Mughrabi Gate, and toured it under the protection of the regime’s forces.

Israeli settlers also provocatively performed rituals in the sacred site.

Media reports said the occupation forces had earlier stormed the mosque, and removed the Palestinian worshipers from the holy site to pave the way for the settlers’ incursions.

Hardline Israeli officials and settlers regularly storm the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied city, a provocative move that infuriates Palestinians. Such mass settler break-ins almost always take place at the behest of Tel Aviv-backed temple groups and under the auspices of the Israeli police in al-Quds.

The al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which sits just above the Western Wall plaza, houses both the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Jewish visitation of al-Aqsa is permitted, but as part of a decades-old agreement between Jordan – the custodian of Islamic and Christian sites in al-Quds – and Israel in the wake of Israel’s occupation of East al-Quds in 1967, non-Muslim worship at the compound is prohibited.

GCC strongly condemns Israeli desecration of al-Aqsa, raids on worshipers

The Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) strongly condemns the Israeli desecration of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound and violent raids on Palestinian worshipers.

Heavily armed Israeli forces stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Tuesday night before firing tear gas and stun grenades into the Qibli prayer hall, where hundreds of men, women, elderly people, and children were staying overnight to pray. Some eyewitnesses said rubber-coated steel bullets were also fired.

Israeli forces have wounded and rounded up hundreds of Palestinians during the attacks that have seen a rise since the beginning of the fasting month of Ramadan. Illegal Israeli settlers have, meanwhile, been freely violating the compound under the Israeli military and police force’s protection.

Palestinian resistance movements in the nearby Gaza Strip have been warning the regime that it would have to bear the consequences of the flare-up that it has brought about in al-Quds and beyond.

Hundreds protest in London calling on Israeli regime to stop attacks on al-Aqsa

Hundreds of people have held a rally in London to protest against the latest violence by Israeli forces against the Palestinian worshipers at al-Aqsa and demand an end to such attacks.

Since the start of the holy month, the Israeli regime has imposed strict restrictions on the entry and exit of Palestinians to and from the gates of al-Aqsa Mosque. Amid heightened tensions with Palestinian worshipers, Israeli settlers also press ahead with their frequent incursions and provocative rituals at the holy site.

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