Ramallah, Nov. 2 (Petra) -- Israeli occupation forces on Sunday arrested 19 Palestinians during a large-scale raid across several areas of the West Bank, while Jewish settlers stormed the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque under heavy police protection.

According to a statement by the Palestinian Prisoner Society, Israeli forces raided homes and assaulted several residents, as settlers carried out a new act of vandalism targeting the Tahadi School in Khirbet Ibziq, north of Tubas.

The statement added that Israeli troops fired heavily while storming multiple areas of the West Bank, arresting the 19 individuals on claims of being "wanted." Meanwhile, dozens of Jewish settlers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied Jerusalem under tight protection from heavily armed Israeli police.

The Jerusalem Islamic Waqf Department said that settlers entered the compound early in the morning, conducted provocative tours, and performed Talmudic rituals within its courtyards. It confirmed that Israeli forces cleared worshipers from the site to secure the settlers’ incursions.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque continues to witness daily violations and raids by settlers, except on Fridays and Saturdays, under police protection in attempts to impose full control over the holy site and enforce a temporal and spatial division.

//Petra// AO