Israeli settlers storm Al-Aqsa for third day in a row

Israeli forces and settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque for the third day in a row on Tuesday morning, as arrests of Palestinian activists took place across the occupied West Bank.

According to Palestinian sources in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, with the protection of Israeli police.

Israeli forces guards were filmed harassing teenage boys in the neighbourhood of Silwan, apparently carrying out random ID checks.

Silwan is a neighbourhood south of Al-Aqsa Mosque and is one of the East Jerusalem suburbs that are at risk of the displacement of Palestinian residents.

In Hebron, settlers attacked the houses of two separate families and uprooted 35 olive trees and a yield of summer crops, according to local reports.

Israeli forces also arrested Palestinian resident of Hebron, Asaid Zuhair Eskafi, 21, after they raided the Khalat Hadour area and searched his family's home.

They also arrested Yasser Badersawi, an alleged Hamas leader in Nablus, after raiding his home.

"Out, out, out, the dogs of the authority out", the men are heard shouting at the cleric as he descends from the pulpit's steps.https://t.co/hwmQiJJjF2

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) May 21, 2021

This comes hours after a 23-year-old Palestinian refugee was shot and left for dead by undercover Israeli agents in Al-Bireh.

Plain-clothed Israeli forces, known as Mista'arvim, snuck into the Umm Al Sharayet neighbourhood, where they shot and killed a man identified as Ahmad Jamil Fahd.

Director of the Palestine Medical Complex, Ahmad Al-Bitawi, told Voice of Palestine radio that Fahd was rushed to a medical facility but died.

He was a resident of Am'ari refugee camp, east of Ramallah city.

Weeks of escalated violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank erupted following the Israeli decision to restrict movement at Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and settler attacks on the holy site. 

Tensions further escalated following the forced dispossession of Palestinian families from their homes in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah and the 11-day Israeli bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip, which killed some 250 Palestinians, including 66 children, and wounded over 1,910 others.

Health authorities in the West Bank also confirmed 31 were killed in the occupied region, totalling 279 across all Palestinian territories.