A state of cautious calm prevails in the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque today, Sunday, after the occupation forces attacked a number of Palestinians and the mosque employees and arrested a number of them, in conjunction with the storming of groups of settlers into the Al-Aqsa courtyards since the morning hours after a pause that lasted about 20 days.

While the Palestinian presidency warned against returning to the "starting point", the Jordanian Foreign Ministry condemned the settlers' storming of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque today, and in turn warned of the consequences of the escalation.

# Urgent .. # Watch the start of the first group of settlers storming the squares of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, amid the intense deployment of the occupation forces inside the Al-Aqsa squares and at its gates. # Al-Aqsa_Red Line pic.twitter.com/6UDEwMBZOa

- The Palestinian Information Center (@PalinfoAr) May 23, 2021

The number of settlers who stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque today during the morning and evening periods reached 253, and they entered with intensive protection from the Israeli police and special forces.

Al-Jazeera correspondent said that the occupation forces arrested a Palestinian girl for filming a Palestinian youth who was being beaten during his arrest, bringing the number of detainees in Al-Aqsa today to 8, some of whom are mosque employees, and the occupation released 5 of them.

Earlier, a spokesman for the Jordanian Ministry of Endowments told Al-Jazeera that Israeli forces had arrested 5 of the ministry's Al-Aqsa Mosque guards.

A spokesman for the Jordanian Ministry of Endowments to the island: Israeli forces have arrested 5 guards at Al-Aqsa Mosque affiliated with the ministry

The video at the moment of the arrest of Al-Aqsa guard Mahmoud Al-Shakhshir # Palestine # Al-Aqsa Mosque # Al-Aqsa is in danger pic.twitter.com/zJZ2VVmwNp

- The Palestinian Information Center (@PalinfoAr) May 23, 2021

This coincides with the end of the Israeli ban on storming the mosque, which lasted 20 days, while Palestinian calls spread to travel to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and protect it.

The Israeli government decided to prevent settlers from storming the mosque more than two weeks ago, due to the last ten days of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, as well as the field conditions, without announcing its cancellation.

The settlers are demanding that they be re-allowed to enter the mosque, without it being clear whether the Israeli government will take this decision soon, in light of the security situation in East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Since 2003, the Israeli police have allowed settlers to enter the mosque through the Mughrabi Gate in the western wall of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, causing clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli police.

Warning

For its part, the Palestinian presidency warned against returning to the "starting point" and to the square of escalation and tension if the storming of Al-Aqsa and the siege of Sheikh Jarrah continued, and the US administration called for rapid intervention to prevent the Israeli policy of provocations and escalation.

In turn, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the continued storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque as a disregard for the international positions that accompanied the recent aggression.

In a statement, the ministry affirmed that attempts to avoid the continuing occupation’s attacks on Jerusalem emptied international stances and efforts aimed at stabilizing the ceasefire and reviving the peace process from its content.

The occupation forces arrest a Palestinian in conjunction with dozens of settlers storming the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque (Anatolia)

The statement held the Israeli government - headed by Benjamin Netanyahu - full responsibility for the Al-Aqsa incursions, and called on the international community to "fulfill its legal and moral obligations towards the crimes of the occupation."

Ambassador Ahmed Al-Deek, the political advisor to the Palestinian Foreign Minister, said that Israel is deliberately escalating its attacks on Jerusalem, storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and tightening its siege on the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, before the arrival of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to the region.

In turn, Al-Aqsa's preacher, Sheikh Ikrimah Sabri - told Anadolu Agency - that these incursions "confirm the occupation's ambitions at Al-Aqsa Mosque," blaming the Israeli authorities for the tension that would result from them.

And he added, "The occupation authorities want these incursions, which were guarded by large police forces, to prove that they were not defeated in the war they waged on Gaza."

Jordan condemns

For its part, Jordan condemned - on Sunday - the Israeli escalation in Al-Aqsa Mosque, and its storming by dozens of settlers under the protection of the police.

In a statement issued by him, the spokesman for the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dhaifallah Al-Fayez, said, "We condemn the escalation by the Israeli authorities on the Temple Mount, and the attack on the employees of the Jerusalem Endowments Administration and the Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs (affiliated with Jordan) and the worshipers, and the admission of large numbers of extremists. ( For Al-Aqsa) under the protection of the police and special forces. "

The resistance in Gaza fired hundreds of rockets towards Israel in response to the ongoing attacks on Jerusalemites (Reuters)

He described what Israel is doing as "dangerous escalation, provocative behavior, and a flagrant violation."

The statement added that these actions challenge international efforts and endeavors that have crystallized over the past period, in order to reach a calm and an end to violence and escalation in Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories.

Diplomatic action

In a related context, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki discussed with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi - in Amman, today, Sunday - the launch of an effective international move to end the Israeli occupation, according to a statement by the Palestinian Foreign Ministry.

The statement stated that Al-Maliki discussed with Safadi the continuation of coordination and consultations for joint efforts to launch an effective international move, and to find real prospects for ending the occupation and achieving a just peace on the basis of the two-state solution, in accordance with international law and the Arab Peace Initiative.

After his visit to Amman, al-Maliki arrived - on Sunday - the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and met the President of the Republic, Barham Salih, at the Peace Palace, and held a press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein.

In the same conference, the Iraqi foreign minister said that he discussed with his Palestinian counterpart how to coordinate joint Arab action on the international arena, and to emphasize support for Palestinian unity and the need for dialogue between the Palestinians to achieve this.

Hussein added that "the Palestinian victory must be invested in a correct way, and an open dialogue should be initiated to achieve unity of ranks."

Delay

Meanwhile, the Israeli Supreme Court postponed until Monday, the delivery of its response to Adalah, the human rights center, regarding the petition submitted on behalf of the residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem, to remove the checkpoints that the Israeli police installed at the entrance to the neighborhood two weeks ago.

This comes after the Israeli prosecution requested an extension of the deadline for submitting its response to the court regarding the petition to tomorrow.

The Israeli occupation forces had suppressed a protest stand held in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, and prevented dozens of solidarity activists from entering the neighborhood, and prevented residents of the neighborhood from leaving to participate in the stand.

This stop came in protest against the continued siege of the neighborhood, as the occupation authorities set up a number of military barriers at its entrances, and prevented entry and exit from it to non-residents, at a time when settlers were allowed to move about freely in it.

Since April 13, the situation in the Palestinian territories has exploded as a result of continuous attacks committed by the Israeli police and settlers in the occupied city of Jerusalem, especially the Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surroundings and the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood (center), following Israeli efforts to evacuate 12 Palestinian homes and hand them over to settlers.

And at dawn on May 21, the implementation of a ceasefire agreement between the Palestinian factions in Gaza and Israel, with Egyptian and international mediation, began after Tel Aviv's aggression on the Strip that lasted 11 days.