JERUSALEM, October 13,
2014 (WAFA)
– Dozens of worshipers present at al-Aqsa Mosque compound Monday suffered from
suffocation when Israeli Police fired tear gas canisters towards them,
according to WAFA correspondent.
He said police guards stormed the
mosque, and fired tear and poison gas canisters, stun grenades and firebombs
towards the worshipers, causing several cases of suffocation.
Shortly after, police chased the
worshipers towards the southern main part of the Mosque and tried to enter it, damaging
a number of historical gates and windows. No arrests were reported.
Earlier in the morning, Moshe
Feiglin, a deputy speaker of the Israeli Knesset, entered the Mosque accompanied
by Jewish settlers to perform rituals marking the Jewish holiday, Sukkot.
The incident, believed by
Palestinians to be another episode of assaults during the
recent few days, comes amid mounting concerns that the Israeli authorities are
planning to force a temporal division of the mosque, the third holiest place in
Islam, between Muslims and Jews.
WAFA correspondent said a state of tension is prevailing throughout the Old City and among residents.
A statement by the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Negotiations
Affairs Department said, “Allowing extremist Israeli settlers to raid the Al
Aqsa compound protected by the Israeli Police is a further proof of the
belligerent agenda of the extremist Israeli government, a coalition made to
please the appetite of Israeli settlers for more Palestinian land, oppression
of the Palestinian people, incitement and attacks against Christian and Muslim
Holy Sites and violence.”
The PLO called once again on the international community to assume its responsibility to protect the Palestinian people under occupation and to support Palestinian diplomatic initiatives to put an end to this occupation, including recognition of the State of Palestine and a Security Council resolution to put a timeframe to end the Israeli occupation.
M.N/M.H
