Jewish settlers stormed the holy Aqsa Mosque in occupied Al-Quds (Jerusalem) on Wednesday in large numbers after organizing provocative marches in its vicinity and in the Old City.

Aqsa guards said that the settlers broke into the holy site through the Maghareba gate under police protection and started feasting, which included opening and breaking liquor bottles.

Worshipers inside the mosque rushed to the plaza while chanting Allahu Akbar (God is great), but the policemen kept them away and threatened to arrest them. Tension ran high after the incident.

Leaders of Jewish fanatic groups had called for storming the Aqsa on the occasion of “Alhvuaot Albwakir" feast, which coincides with the forty-fourth anniversary of occupying eastern Al-Quds.

In Islam, alcohol is forbidden, and bringing it into a Muslim holy site is considered to be desecration.

The report of the incident was made public by the Al-Aqsa Foundation for Heritage and Islamic Endowments. Waqf officials told the official Palestinian Authority news agency WAFA, that the visiting Jewish group was "drinking wine and breaking the empty bottles on its ground to celebrate the Jewish Shavout holiday."

Foundation officials said the Jewish group entered the compound through its Magharbe Gate with Israeli police protection.

Israeli police did not intervene, the WAFA report stated, except to separate the Jewish group from a gathering of Muslim worshipers who were angered by the violation of religious law.

According to the statement of the foundation, mosque guards and Israeli forces were called to the area when the incident was observed.

Agencies/AB