Israeli forces assault Palestinian women defending Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem as settlers storm site

Israeli forces assault Palestinian women defending Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem as settlers storm site
Israeli security forces have attacked Palestinian women at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem as over a hundred settlers stormed the Muslim holy site.
2 min read
21 October, 2019
Israeli extremists have regularly stormed the Aqsa Mosque in recent weeks [Getty]
Israeli security forces on Monday assaulted Palestinian women present in the vicinity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque as Israeli settlers stormed the Muslim holy site in Jerusalem.

Approximately 120 Israeli settlers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque, protected by Israeli security forces. The Al-Aqsa Mosque has been infiltrated recently on a regular basis by Israeli settlers and extremists, to coincide with Jewish religious holidays.

Israeli extremists seek to build a Jewish temple on the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. They refer to the area around the mosque as “The Temple Mount”.

The Palestinian women were attacked by Israeli security forces as they stood at the Al-Aqsa Mosque’s Silsila (Chain) Gate. They belong to a group of women known as Murabitat  - the Steadfast.

Read more: The Steadfast Women of Al-Aqsa

The group’s aim is to protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque from regular Israeli incursions by maintaining a presence at the site, holding regular Quran and religious study classes for women.

Social media users uploaded video and images showing a woman who appeared to have been assaulted as Israeli security forces looked on.

Israeli security forces also arrested two young men and one young woman  near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and stormed several towns and villages in the occupied West Bank, arresting a 14-year old boy near the town of Qalqiliya and another youth who was seized from his home in Hebron.

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