Israeli forces once again stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday, the second night in a row during this Ramadan.
Dozens of armed Israeli officers entered the holy mosque while nearly 20,000 Palestinian worshippers were still performing the Ramadan Taraweeh night prayer.
A teenage boy has reportedly been shot in the arm with live ammunition after an encounter with Israeli forces, Al Jazeera reported.
Visuals show worshippers being brutally assaulted at the holy mosque. Israeli forces fired rubber-coated bullets, tear gas and stun grenades at worshippers.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, condemned Israeli action at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in a press conference on Wednesday, saying it is the “exclusive right of the Palestinian Muslims” to practise their religious traditions there.
“It is the right of the Palestinian Muslim worshippers to exercise their religious duties and prayers in this holy month of Ramadan and in any other time in this holy Aqsa Mosque,” Mansour said.
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke in relation to the Al Aqsa attacks and condemned the actions of the Israeli government.
The Prime Minister stated, “Families, Israeli and Palestinian, deserve to be able to celebrate and reflect in peace and in security. That’s why we deplore what’s going on right now…We’re extremely concerned with the inflamed rhetoric coming out of the Israeli government”.
Last night, hundreds of Palestinians barricaded themselves inside the Qibli hall – the building with the silver dome – to pray and avoid attempts by police to remove them.
But Israeli forces later stormed the Qibli mosque and fired stun grenades and teargas, before they threw Palestinians to the ground, stomped on them, and bound their hands behind their backs.
At least 400 people were arrested.
