Hundreds of Palestinians holing up in Al-Aqsa Mosque as forces expected to remove them

9 April 2023, 4:45 am

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Israeli security forces patrol outside the Dome of the Rock shrine in Jerusalem's Temple Mount compound during Ramadan and Passover, late on April 8, 2023. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

Hundreds of Palestinians have for hours been barricading themselves inside Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque in the flashpoint Temple Mount holy site and are refusing to disperse.

Many Israeli police forces are deployed in the area and are expected at some point to enter the mosque to remove the Palestinians, who are threatening to disrupt morning visits by Jews to the site and to attempt to attack Jewish masses set to attend the annual Priestly Blessing prayers at the Western Wall for Passover.

Jordan’s Waqf authorities have refused to remove the Palestinians, and Amman has claimed Israel is trying to “fabricate the facts” and demanded that Israel stop its “attacks on worshipers.”