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Israeli occupiers storm Al-Aqsa as far-right lawmaker raids Palestinian school

Dozens of Israeli settlers storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex during the provocative
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Dozens of Israeli settlers storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex during the provocative "Flag March" to mark Jerusalem Day in East Jerusalem on May 14, 2026. (AA Photo)
July 15, 2026 04:43 PM GMT+03:00

Israeli settlers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday morning, chanting provocative songs and slogans inside its courtyards, the Jerusalem Governorate said.

The governorate published video footage showing settlers inside the mosque compound during the incursion.

Since 2003, Israeli police have allowed Israeli settlers to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound daily, except on Fridays and Saturdays.

According to a report released Sunday by the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, Israeli forces carried out 26 incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in June.

Palestinians say Israel has intensified efforts for decades to Judaize East Jerusalem, including Al-Aqsa Mosque, and erase the city's Arab and Islamic identity.

A view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which has been kept closed to Muslims in East Jerusalem since February 28, following restrictions imposed by Israel, as seen on March 27, 2026. (AA Photo)
A view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which has been kept closed to Muslims in East Jerusalem since February 28, following restrictions imposed by Israel, as seen on March 27, 2026. (AA Photo)

Far-right lawmaker raids Palestinian school

The incident came a day after Israeli Knesset member Tzvi Sukkot stormed a school for orphans in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem, broke a sign bearing the school's name and the Palestinian flag, and threatened to close it along with other Palestinian educational institutions in the city.

Sukkot, a member of the far-right Religious Zionism party, posted a video showing him entering the school and breaking the sign.

"A school belonging to the Palestinian Authority cannot continue to exist inside territory under Israeli sovereignty," he said.

Sukkot, who chairs the Knesset Education Committee, added: "We will close this school and all similar educational institutions in Jerusalem."

Odeh condemns school raid

Arab Knesset member Ayman Odeh condemned the raid, calling it an attack on a Palestinian educational institution.

"How is it acceptable that the chair of the Knesset's Education Committee breaks into a school in East Jerusalem and vandalizes it just because there's a Palestinian flag there?" Odeh wrote on X.

"Imagine if the chair of the Education Committee in any other country entered a Jewish school and vandalized it just because an Israeli flag was being flown there. The entire world would be horrified. And rightly so!" he added.

Odeh said a school should be "a place where children are supposed to learn and grow, not an arena for rampages by politicians and hilltop youth in the throes of a campaign crisis."

About 390,000 Palestinians live in occupied East Jerusalem, where most schools continue to teach the Palestinian curriculum despite increasing Israeli pressure to impose the Israeli curriculum, particularly under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

In recent weeks, Sukkot has carried out visits and raids on several Arab schools inside Israel, saying they were aimed at monitoring curricula.

The moves drew protests from parents who accused him of incitement and of seeking to target Arab education.

The school raid came amid escalating attacks by Israel's far right against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem ahead of Israel's general election scheduled for Oct. 27.

Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, citing international resolutions that do not recognize Israel's occupation of the city in 1967 or its annexation in 1980.

July 15, 2026 04:43 PM GMT+03:00
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