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Yemeni Nobel peace laureate condemns Israeli attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque

Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman on Monday condemned the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem by the Israeli forces.

“I condemn the Israeli occupation forces storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque and wounding hundreds of worshippers,” Karman said in a Twitter post.

Karman said the latest Israeli violations are “added to the many [Israeli] crimes against the Palestinian people”. She also lambasted what she described as “embarrassing and regrettable international silence.”

Karman’s words came as Israeli police on Monday stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque and attacked Palestinians who were on guard to prevent raids by extremist Jews.

Medical sources told Anadolu Agency that hundreds of people were injured during the Israeli incursion and 50 of them were taken to hospitals.

Thousands of Palestinians staged protests in the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, located in the Old City of Jerusalem, after performing the dawn prayers there. The Palestinians then stayed there to guard the mosque from the raids of extremist Jews.

Setting up barricades at some points of Haram al-Sharif, the main building of Al-Aqsa, they chanted slogans for the mosque and said they would not leave there.

Israeli police then raided the mosque and used tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades in clashes with the Palestinians, who responded by throwing stones.

Extremist Jews decided to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque to celebrate the anniversary of the Six-Day War in 1967, when Israel occupied East Jerusalem, as “Jerusalem Day” according to the Hebrew calendar.

Extremist Jewish organizations had called for raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday and Monday to mark the day.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world’s third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the “Temple Mount,” claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognized by the international community.

Source: Anadolu Agency