Settlers during a previous storming of the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque (Al Jazeera - Archive)

Today, Sunday, settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque while the Israeli occupation forces intensified their deployment around it ahead of the month of Ramadan, at a time when the Israeli escalation in the West Bank continues through raids and arrests.

Palestinian sources said that dozens of settlers stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem under the protection of Israeli police.

The latest incursions into Al-Aqsa come one day before the month of Ramadan, which begins tomorrow, Monday, in several Arab and Islamic countries, while the occupation authorities prevent many Palestinians from reaching the blessed mosque to pray in it, and keep others away from it under various pretexts.

Israeli Channel 12 reported that there was a large deployment of security forces in the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque for fear of violent disturbances with the advent of the month of Ramadan, in light of the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.

◾ Groups of herds of settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque, protected by the occupation police pic.twitter.com/nUpwWJexdi

- Palestinian Information Center (@PalinfoAr) March 10, 2024

Recently, Israeli ministers, including Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, called for restrictions on the access of West Bank and Green Line Palestinians to the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

However, this call was met with objection from the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, which fears that imposing restrictions on access to Al-Aqsa Mosque will provoke Palestinian responses that will be difficult to contain, especially with the frequency of resistance operations in the West Bank.

Palestinian factions and Islamic leaders - within the Green Line - called for traveling to the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque during the month of Ramadan.

Outpost

Meanwhile, settlers today began establishing a new settlement outpost south of Ein Al-Sakout in the northern Jordan Valley, northeast of the occupied West Bank.

The official Palestinian News Agency (Wafa) said that the spot is of a touristic nature, noting that Ain al-Sakout is one of the beautiful and picturesque natural areas in the northern Jordan Valley, and is rich in agricultural life, as it is characterized by the fertility of the land and the spread of water pumps.

Wafa added that the village has open plain areas along the Jordan River, and is one of the most fertile agricultural lands in the West Bank, surrounded by several agricultural settlements.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the establishment of the settlement outpost and considered it an Israeli attempt to control more Palestinian land to expand settlements, and said that this undermines the chances of realizing the Palestinian state and the two-state solution.

Last Wednesday, Israeli Settlement Minister Orit Struck announced the approval of a plan to build 3,500 additional housing units in settlements in the West Bank.

Scenes documenting the Israeli occupation forces storming the town of Sarda and stationing vehicles at the Birzeit University intersection pic.twitter.com/gv8rIw9j4d

- Al Jazeera Egypt (@AJA_Egypt) March 10, 2024

Storms and arrests

Meanwhile, Palestinian sources said that the occupation forces fired heavy live bullets today during their storming of the town of Hizma, northeast of the occupied Holy City.

Israeli forces also stormed the city of Birzeit near Ramallah, and the Palestinian Red Crescent said that a citizen was injured by live bullets during the storming and was taken to the hospital.

The occupation forces also stormed the town of Surda, north of Ramallah, according to Palestinian sources.

On Sunday morning, the Israeli army stormed several cities and towns in the West Bank as part of an ongoing escalation since the seventh of last October, resulting in the martyrdom of hundreds and the arrest of thousands.

Israeli forces arrested a number of citizens, including a girl, during their storming of the cities of Ramallah and Al-Bireh at dawn today.

The Tulkarm Battalion, affiliated with the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, documented the moment a homemade explosive device was detonated in an Israeli military bulldozer during the occupation forces’ storming of the Nour Shams camp, east of the city of Tulkarm.

A statement from the brigades stated that the device, called the “Shaqaqi device,” was highly explosive, and that the operation led to the bulldozer being damaged and completely out of service. The Palestinian faction also confirmed that an Israeli “Tiger” military vehicle was targeted with explosive devices.

For its part, the Palestinian Prisoners' Club said that the total number of arrest campaigns reached 7,510 detainees in the West Bank after October 7, noting that among the detainees were 240 women and 500 children.

The Prisoners' Club added that the total number of prisoners in the occupation prisons reached more than 9,100 Palestinians, including 3,558 administrative detainees.

Source: Al Jazeera