JERUSALEM, September 12, 2018 (WAFA) – A number of al-Aqsa Mosque guards protested on Wednesday during a meeting with Azzam Khatib, director of the Muslim Waqf (Endowment) Deportment, Israeli police obstruction of their daily work at the holy Muslim compound, according to sources.

The guards told Khatib that Israeli police officers based at the holy compound keep harassing them and obstructing their work at the Mosque and often assault and arrest them for simply doing their work of keeping law and order at the holy site.

Khatib praised the guards for their perseverance in defending the Mosque against Israeli attempts to control it and change it religious, historical and legal status.

Police regularly accompany Jewish fanatics who visit the compound during the day and even though non-Muslims are not allowed to perform any religious rituals on the site, the police close their eyes to illegal acts by the fanatics, which usually prompt the Aqsa guards to react to stop them risking beating and assault by the Israeli police in addition to possible imprisonment or ordering them to stay away from the Mosque for days and weeks at a time.

K.T.;/M.K.