1967-2015: Israel’s ongoing legacy of assaults on Al-Aqsa

Israeli violations against al-Quds('Jerusalem')’s Al-Aqsa Mosque have continued unabated since the city was occupied in 1967. According to Palestinian sources, however, the last two years have witnessed a noticeable uptick in both the number and scale of these violations.

The most serious assault on the mosque occurred in August of 1969, when Israeli settler Denis Michael Rohan set fire to the building, partially damaging it.

Attacks have not been limited to the mosque, but have also targeted worshipers. In April of 1982, an Israeli force indiscriminately opened fire on worshipers inside the mosque, murdering two and wounding six.

And in October of 1990, Israeli police murdered 21 Palestinians and injured another 150 after clashes erupted when Israeli extremists tried to place the foundation stone of a Jewish temple inside the mosque.

Since the Israeli occupation of al-Quds in 1967, Zionist Regime has carried out "archaeological" work in the vicinity of the mosque without disclosing the exact nature or details of these excavations.

Palestinian objections to the excavations reached a fever pitch in September of 1996, when the Israeli cabinet opened a tunnel under Al-Aqsa’s western wall.

The move drew massive Palestinian opposition, sparking days of demonstrations in the occupied territories, during which 63 Palestinians were killed and some 1,600 injured.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque was also central to the eruption of the second Palestinian Intifada in September of 2000, when notorious Israeli politician Ariel Sharon -- accompanied by hoards of Israeli security forces -- provocatively entered the Al-Aqsa courtyard.

The second Intifada, which went on until 2005, saw hundreds of Palestinians murdered and thousands injured throughout the occupied territories. Following Sharon’s fateful visit to the flashpoint site, the Islamic Waqf closed the mosque to non-Muslims until Israeli authorities reopened it from one side in August of 2003.

Since then, groups of extremist Israeli settlers have stormed the mosque compound with increasing frequency and in increasing numbers.

The provocative visits, say Palestinian sources, escalated dramatically in 2014 and 2015.

According to the Islamic Waqf in al-Quds, over the course of last year, more than 11,472 Israeli settlers have forced their way into the Al-Aqsa compound.