Occupied Jerusalem, Ramallah January 27 (Petra) Israeli occupation forces carried out widespread raids on Tuesday across occupied Jerusalem and several cities and towns in the occupied West Bank, involving arrests, house searches and the uprooting of trees.

In occupied Jerusalem, dozens of extremist settlers stormed the courtyards of the Al Aqsa Mosque through the Mughrabi Gate, under heavy protection from Israeli occupation police.

The Islamic Waqf Department in occupied Jerusalem reported that 174 Israeli settlers entered the compound, conducted suspicious tours and performed provocative Talmudic rituals in the Bab al-Rahma area east of the Mosque.

Occupation forces imposed strict restrictions on access to the mosque, confiscating the identity cards of worshippers and Jerusalemites at the outer gates.

Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces notified residents of the impending demolition of shops near the Qalandiya refugee camp, north of occupied Jerusalem and ordered shop owners to evacuate the premises.

In the occupied West Bank, occupation forces demolished four homes in the town of Bartaa, northwest of Jenin. The Bartaa municipality said occupation bulldozers entered the town, demolished the homes on the pretext that they were located in Area C and forcibly evicted their residents.

Separately, extremist Israeli settlers uprooted approximately 500 trees in Khirbet Wadi al-Rakhim near Yatta, south of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank and vandalised Palestinian property.

//Petra// AK