By Anees Barghouthy
JERUSALEM
Around 1,064 Jewish settlers forced their way into East Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound last month alone, a Palestinian NGO said Wednesday.
"March saw the most intrusions [by Jewish settlers] since the beginning of 2015, with 1,064 Jewish extremists and 73 Israeli soldiers forcing their way into the Al-Aqsa compound [last month]," Jawad Siyam, head of the Wadi Hilweh Information Center, told The Anadolu Agency.
"Around 1,400 settlers and 120 Israeli soldiers entered Al-Aqsa complex in January and February combined," he said.
He added that the Israeli authorities last month had banned 42 Palestinians, including 27 women, from entering the holy site for periods ranging from 15 to 90 days.
Also in March, Israeli authorities launched sweeping arrest campaigns against Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem.
"The Israeli army and police arrested 185 Palestinians from several East Jerusalem neighborhoods in March," Siyam said.
"Among the detainees were 42 women and 65 minors, ten of whom were under 14 years old," he added.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank during the 1967 Middle East 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.
