Over 24,000 settlers broke into Aqsa mosque since 2017

Dozens of Jewish settlers accompanied by Israeli police forced their way into al-Aqsa Mosque on Thursday morning, according to a statement by Firas al-Dibis, a Palestinian official with Quds' Islamic Waqf.

233 settlers broke into the complex into three groups via the Israeli-controlled al-Magharibeh Gate where they perform Talmudic rituals in the mosque’s courtyard.

Israeli police forces intensified their presence since the early morning hours throughout the holy site to provide protection to the settlers, the sourced added.

The Palestinian official said more settler incursions are expected into the holy site during the eight-day Jewish Hanukkah holiday, which began on Wednesday and runs till Dec. 20.

More than 24,000 settlers broke into the site since the beginning of the year.

In late 2015, repeated incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound by Jewish settlers and Israeli

security personnel sparked a months-long Intifada.