They retreated without hesitation in the squares and chapels of all their hearts, and after performing the dawn prayers they began preparations to repel the settlers' storming, which extremist groups had mobilized for a month ago. Getting to the Al-Qibli prayer hall, and many did not neglect to hide the features of their faces, whether with masks or a Palestinian scarf.

They were not satisfied with that, but the young men climbed to the top of the Al-Qattaneen Gate (one of the doors of Al-Aqsa Mosque) and broke the surveillance cameras, and others broke the cameras in front of the usurped police station in the courtyard of the Dome of the Rock and wrote on its door "Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine."

As soon as they did this, hundreds of members of the Israeli police, army and special forces surprised the worshipers, and began firing tear gas, sound bombs and rubber bullets randomly, which led to dozens of injuries at once, the latest toll from the Palestine Red Crescent Society amounted to 331 injuries, including 7 injuries Serious.

Palestinian youths began their preparations early to thwart the extremists' storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque (Al-Jazeera)

Battlefield

Ahmed Abu Al-Hija, one of the eyewitnesses, told Al-Jazeera Net that he did not witness the brutality of the repression like the one he witnessed today in the squares and chapels of Al-Aqsa against unarmed women, men and children, describing Al-Aqsa as the battlefield with the scattering of the mosque’s contents, the prayers ’clothes and belongings, and the injured lying on the ground waiting for ambulance crews here and there.

"Rubber-coated metal bullets were fired at an elderly man, I carried him and put him aside until the paramedics were allowed to move him, very painful scenes that will not be erased from my memory forever."

Despite what this man who is observing the pilgrimage to Al-Aqsa went through from the city of Tamra in the Palestinian interior, he insists on staying in the mosque until the Eid prayer.

Al-Aqsa turned into a battlefield after youths destroyed surveillance cameras (Al-Jazeera)

The confrontations lasted for about 3 hours, after which they moved to the alleys surrounding the Al-Aqsa Mosque, most notably Al-Ghazali Square, Bab Hatta, and the Mujahideen Road, in addition to the courtyard and entrance to Bab Al-Asbat, which witnessed violent confrontations, which resulted in dozens of injured people being taken to hospitals.

The confrontations subsided for minutes, then they erupted again in an unprecedented fight and flight. Today, the direct and deliberate targeting of ambulance teams and journalists, a number of whom were wounded with rubber bullets, was observed.

Among them is the photojournalist, Iyad Al-Tawil, who described to Al-Jazeera Net how the situation in Al-Aqsa exploded suddenly after the smashing of the surveillance cameras, so that people dispersed randomly between the squares and the chapels, and none of them were spared from prosecution and targeting.

Al-Tawil - who suffers from a rubber bullet injury in the leg - said that he witnessed the exceptional courage and courage of the worshipers who did not give up for a moment from resisting the storming, because surrendering it means emptying the mosque and giving the opportunity for extremists to storm Al-Aqsa on what is called "the Day of the Unification of Jerusalem."

Transporting one of the injured in the clashes (Al-Jazeera)

Targeting the head and eyes

Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, he added that his camera lens documented a very large number of injuries in the head and eyes area, which aim to cause permanent disabilities.

Ziad Abhais, a researcher on Jerusalem affairs, said that the will of the worshipers that thwarted the storming of about two thousand extremists to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and later forced the Israeli police to change the course of the settlers' "flag dance" and not pass it through the Damascus Gate, is a real victory.

He added in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net that 3 goals were desired from the first day's storming: for two thousand extremists to enter Al-Aqsa to say that this is our temple, and we act with it as we wish, and it is the sacred of the Jews, and this was not achieved and no one entered them.

The second goal was to perform public biblical rituals in Al-Aqsa to confirm that this place has its religious identity, and none of them put their feet in Al-Aqsa with the vigor of youth. As for the third goal, the extremists wanted to say, “If time and the definition of Judaism intersect with the Islamic at Al-Aqsa, then the Jew is the one who will rise.

The clashes lasted for about 3 hours, then moved to the alleys surrounding Al-Aqsa (Al-Jazeera)

And they expected that despite the Muslims ’observance of the last ten days of Ramadan, during which the storming is forbidden, they would be able to storm Al-Aqsa to celebrate the day of“ the unification of Jerusalem. ”In the end, the Jerusalemites told them by will and practical experience that the Zionist time is not superior to the extended and deep Islamic time in Al-Aqsa.

Abhais concluded his speech to Al-Jazeera Net by saying that despite the great difference in the balance of power between a heavily armed army and unarmed young men who confront it with bare chests, they managed to wrest a popular victory for him beyond him in the Holy City.

No sooner had this victory been announced than the heart of Al-Aqsa until, after hours, the Israeli political leadership was forced to instruct the need to change the course of the "Flag Dance," which is the most prominent celebration on this day, so that it does not pass through the Column Gate with the renewed confrontations between the youths and the police at the scene.

A festive atmosphere prevailed in the place with the Israeli police being forced to remove the iron barriers that they had installed this afternoon on the runway, especially as it is the first time that this procession did not pass through the Damascus Gate.

It is noteworthy that the Israelis consider the "unification of Jerusalem" day a national holiday to commemorate the completion of the occupation's control over the city of Jerusalem and the occupation of the eastern part of it, in particular the Old City, during the 1967 war.

Every year, the most prominent celebration, the "flag dance," is affected by 35,000 Jerusalemites who live inside the walls of the Old City, as the police prevent them from moving to and from their homes.

The organizers announced that 30,000 settlers are expected to participate in the march today, but with the change of its course, some institutions have declared their reluctance to participate because the police obey the wishes of Jerusalemites, especially with their announcement in the morning that they are prevented from storming Al-Aqsa and consequently the failure of all the settlers' festive activities with the will of the worshipers in Al-Aqsa Mosque and their steadfastness for the nights. I'tikaaf despite the repression and the threat.