RAMALLAH, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian presidency said Monday that the escalating incursions by Israeli settlers and government ministers into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on the third day of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot represent a "failed attempt to impose new facts on the ground" and will not grant Israel any legitimacy.
The Israeli government is seeking to "impose a fait accompli policy targeting the identity of Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites," Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for the Palestinian presidency, said in a statement published by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, stressing that such practices "will not alter the established fact that East Jerusalem is occupied Palestinian territory."
He held the Israeli government "fully responsible for the dangerous consequences" of such policies, warning that they could push the region toward further "tension and explosion."
The Jerusalem Governorate of the Palestinian Authority said in a statement that 1,271 Israeli settlers, including Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the third day of Sukkot.
According to the statement, Katz and Ben-Gvir led the incursion under heavy security protection provided by Israeli forces and performed Talmudic rituals in the eastern part of the compound.
The Arab League and Egypt on Sunday condemned the ongoing Israeli escalation in the Palestinian territories and repeated settler incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, warning of the repercussions of such practices on the situation in the Palestinian territories.
In recent years, Israeli police have increasingly allowed settlers to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and perform religious rituals, while the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem and Palestinian authorities have repeatedly called for an end to such practices. ■
