JERUSALEM, Thursday, August 08, 2019 (WAFA) – Tension was high today at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site worldwide, after a large group of Jewish fanatics started to perform Jewish rituals of dancing and singing as they walked through the plaza of Al-Haram Al-Sharif, or the noble sanctuary, according to officials from the Islamic Waqf department in charge of the Islamic property in occupied Jerusalem.

Firas al-Dibs, a Waqf official, told WAFA that 260 Jewish fanatics entered in groups the Muslim holy place during the daily visit hours, most of them were members of hardline extremist religious groups who started to perform loud and open rituals and signing provoking the Muslim worshippers at the holy site.

Police usually escort the fanatics as they walk through the plaza of Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and are supposed to prevent any religious rituals by non-Muslims. However, the signing and shouting continued as the religious fanatics walked until they exited the area.

Jewish hardline religious groups have called on their followers to force their way into Al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday, the day Muslims mark Eid al-Adha holiday, one of the most important holidays in Islam that coincides with the annual pilgrimage to Makkah. The Jewish groups seek to take over and destroy Al-Aqsa Mosque to build a Jewish temple on its ruins, a move that could trigger religious strife in the region if carried out.

M.K.