Relative calm prevails at Al-Aqsa Mosque after violence

JERUSALEM

Relative calm prevailed at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday after a day of Israeli attacks against the Palestinian worshippers in the holy site.

Thousands of Palestinians performed the dawn prayers inside the mosque after Israeli police withdrew from the flashpoint site last night, according to Anadolu Agency’s correspondent.

Worshippers chanted slogans in defense of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and saluted the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

Violence flared in the Palestinian territories on Sunday after Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and attacked Palestinian worshippers inside the holy site. More than 300 Palestinians were injured in Israeli attacks inside the complex.

The violence came amid calls by extremist Jews for storming Al-Aqsa Mosque to celebrate the anniversary of the Six-Day War in 1967, when Israel occupied East Jerusalem, as "Jerusalem Day" according to the Hebrew calendar.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed the entire city in 1980 – a move that has never been recognized by the international community.

*Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara