(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Over 900 Israelis stormed East Jerusalem's flashpoint, the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, during the last month alone, a Palestinian NGO said on Monday.
"792 Jewish settlers, 117 Israeli soldiers and 50 Israeli tour guides forced their way into the al-Aqsa compound in May," said the Islamic-Christian Committee to Support Occupied Jerusalem and Holy Sites.
It added that Israeli authorities last month banned 17 Palestinians from entering the holy site for periods ranging from 15 to 120 days.
Israeli police and army also launched a sweeping campaign of arrests against Palestinians inside the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa mosque.
"More than 70 Palestinians have been arrested, most of them women," the Palestinian NGO added.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the unified capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state € a move never recognized by the international community.
Sacred to both Muslims and Jews, Jerusalem is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which for Muslims represents the world's third holiest site. Jews refer to the area as the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two prominent Jewish temples in ancient times.
International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories," considering all Jewish settlement building on the land illegal.
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