Today, Thursday, 249 Israeli settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque under police guard, in conjunction with imposing restrictions on the entry of Muslim worshipers to the mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.
An official in the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem said, "249 settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque, guarded by the Israeli police."
He explained that 164 settlers stormed the mosque in the morning period and 85 during the afternoon prayer period.
The official pointed out that the Israeli police imposed restrictions on the entry of worshipers to Al-Aqsa Mosque during the period of the raids.
Among those who stormed the mosque was a member of the Israeli Knesset (parliament) from the right-wing Likud party, Nassim Fatori, according to eyewitnesses.
The occupation police also prevented worshipers under the age of 40 from entering the mosque to perform prayers.
Israeli right-wing groups called for intensifying the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque on the occasion of the Jewish "Hanukah" holiday, which began last Sunday and will last for a week.
The frequency of incursions usually increases during the Jewish holidays, and takes place in two periods in the morning and after the noon prayer through the Mughrabi Gate in the western wall of the mosque with the facilities and escort of the Israeli police.
And in 2008, the Israeli police began to allow the raids, despite repeated condemnation from the Islamic Endowment Department in Jerusalem and the Palestinian authorities.
The Palestinians say that Israel is working intensively to Judaize Jerusalem and obliterate its Arab and Islamic identity.