October 5 2023:
Over 800 Israeli settlers storm Al-Aqsa compound during Jewish Sukkot holiday
More than 800 Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Thursday morning under the protection of Israeli forces.
Rabbis, heads of settlement associations, and far-right university lecturers were among 832 people who forced their way into the religious site compound, a source in the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem told The New Arab's Arabic sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
Israeli forces imposed severe restrictions on Muslim worshippers entering Al-Aqsa and those under 60 were prevented from accessing the site.
It comes during the Jewish religious holiday of Sukkot, which started on 29 September and ends on Friday. The holiday has seen thousands of Israeli extremists storm the Al-Aqsa compound, with almost 1,500 entering the site on Monday.
Israeli extremists also continued on Thursday to hold provocative marches both inside Jerusalem's Old City and outside its walls, attacking Palestinians and their property.
They also beat and spat at journalists in a market area near Al-Aqsa, where shops were forced to close for the sixth day in a row.
The Old City is home to Al-Aqsa as well as the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The Al-Aqsa compound is the third holiest site in Islam and the most important Muslim place in Palestine.
October 7 2023:
Escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
This morning, the Islamic Jihad group announced the start of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation, igniting another local war against Israel. They formally cited regular oppression and attempts on Al-Aqsa as reasons, where local Arab worshippers have been repressed repeatedly (in addition, there have been raids against the Islamic Jihad in Jenin over the past few weeks).
The operation began quite dramatically: a naval landing was carried out in the north of the Gaza Strip, and there are also reports of airborne landings – someone parachuted into rear cities.
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After three hours of fighting, the group successfully captured a military base in the town of Kerem Shalom: there are enough images on social media of killed IDF servicemen and captured equipment (there are also photos of a burnt "Merkava" tank). This is a huge base on the border with Egypt. To put it mildly, the trophy is very valuable.▪️As of now, fighting is still ongoing in Netiv HaAsara, Berri, and Sderot. Panic has gripped the population of bordering villages, with footage of people fleeing on foot. The Israel Defense Forces began retaliatory strikes only after 10 in the morning. The Israeli Ministry of Defense has stated outright that Hamas has gone to war with them, and at 10:30, the official start of the Iron Swords counter-terrorism operation was announced.
This is likely to escalate. It is impossible to predict when or how this will end.