Occupied Jerusalem, Sept. 20 (Petra) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accompanied by several government ministers and thousands of settlers, stormed the Buraq Wall Plaza in Jerusalem's Old City late Saturday and before dawn Sunday under heavy security, on the eve of the Jewish holiday known as "Yom Kippur." Israeli occupation forces intensified their deployment across the Old City, around the Buraq Wall and the roads leading to it, turning the area into what resembled a military barracks. Forces also closed several roads and tightened restrictions on the movement of Jerusalem residents.

Thousands of settlers streamed into the Buraq Wall Plaza via al-Wad Street amid the tight security measures accompanying the arrival of Netanyahu and his ministers.

According to Israeli Channel 14, Netanyahu reached the Buraq Wall under heavy security guard, while settler groups prepared to hold Talmudic rituals and prayers around the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

The measures come amid an escalation of the occupation's military presence in the Old City and around the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, alongside rising settler attacks in the West Bank and the use of Jewish holidays to tighten restrictions and impose new measures in occupied Jerusalem.

//Petra// NQ