Ramallah - Saba:
The Zionist enemy army has destroyed about 1,000 mosques in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs said on Sunday, while settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque more than 250 times, and the call to prayer was prevented from being raised in the Ibrahimi Mosque more than 670 times last year.
The Ministry issued a special report on the occupation's violations of Islamic and Christian sanctities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the year 2024.
Since the beginning of last year, the occupier has destroyed 815 mosques and 19 cemeteries completely and 151 mosques partially, violated graveyards' sanctity by attacking them, digging up their graves and removing the bodies, and targeted and destroyed three churches in Gaza City, the Ministry said in its report.
The Israeli occupier attacked Al-Aqsa Mosque by allowing settler gangs to storm it and desecrate its courtyards and benches with (256) incursions last year, during which they practiced unusual Talmudic rituals that are now practiced daily, such as the epic prostration that began for the first time on August 13, 2024, and blowing the trumpet, the Ministry added.
The Talmudic rituals are now practiced in a specific place and at specific times to consecrate the division of Al-Aqsa in terms of time and space, under the supervision and protection of Israeli police, which permanently prevents the guards of Al-Aqsa Mosque affiliated with the Quds Endowments Department from doing their work during these incursions.
According to the report, the so-called "Temple Groups" facilitated the settlers' Jewish New Year celebrations inside Al-Aqsa Mosque during the past year, and incited "Temple Mount activists" to burn Al-Aqsa Mosque, by publishing a video clip showing the burning of Al-Aqsa Mosque and attaching a comment: "Soon in these days."
On the anniversary of the so-called alleged destruction of the Temple, the Endowments indicated that the settlers performed collective rituals for the first time in the western area opposite the Dome of the Rock, and the eastern area of Al-Aqsa Mosque is treated as an undeclared "synagogue."
The ministry stated in its report that the terrorist Ben-Gvir, supported by his far-right government, has stormed Al-Aqsa (seven) times since he took office, and four times since the start of the war on Gaza, and issued a number of far-right statements in which he threatened to establish a Jewish synagogue in Al-Aqsa Mosque. He also worked to intensify the Jewish presence through government support and legal cover.
The report said (2567) settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Jewish holiday of (Hanukkah), and during which they committed numerous violations, the most prominent of which was the storming of "Ben Gvir", and Rabbi Yisrael Shalita performed Talmudic rituals, and practiced dancing, singing and epic prostration.
Regarding the Ibrahimi Mosque, the occupation forces committed their violations on a daily basis, whether by preventing the call to prayer from being made in it, which has reached (674) times since the beginning of the year, or by restricting Muslims by preventing them, and closing it (ten) times during the same period.
The occupier also installed the so-called "candelabrum" and Israeli flags on the roof and walls of the Ibrahimi Mosque, and held noisy parties and Talmudic rituals in the occupied section, as practiced banging, shouting, cursing and swearing at doors. The occupier also obstructed the celebrations of the Prophet's birthday inside the mosque.
The report indicated that the number of worshipers in the Ibrahimi Mosque during the year 2024 amounted to only 236,530 worshipers, and this number is considered less than expected due to the strict measures imposed by the occupation, including closing the entrances to the mosque since October 7, 2023, which hindered the arrival of large numbers of worshipers.
The Ibrahimi Mosque was stormed by 3,381 Israeli soldiers during the year, in a flagrant violation of the sanctity of the religious place, and provoking the feelings of Muslims. The occupation intensified the checkpoints around the mosque, and closed all its entrances, leaving only the market door, which made it more difficult for Palestinians to reach it.
The report pointed out that the Ibrahimi Mosque received only 12,663 tourists during the year 2024.
With regard to the rest of the places of worship and mosques, the Awqaf reported that the occupation attacked (20) mosques in different areas in the West Bank, with a clear focus on the Tulkarm and Jenin governorates, either by partially destroying a number of facilities or by desecrating them with writing and mocking Islamic rituals.
The Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs monitored in its report a number of attacks on holy places and Christian worshipers, where extremist Jewish religious groups attacked and spat on Christian pilgrims in the occupied city of Quds, specifically in the area of the Church of the Prison of Christ. They also restricted them during Christian holidays and prevented them from reaching the Church of the Nativity and the Church of the Resurrection.
The Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs called on the international community to force the occupation to stop these violations that have become increasingly frequent, especially with the war of extermination on the Gaza Strip.
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