Jewish settlers on Thursday erected a big menorah on the roof of a historical mosque in the village of Nabi Samwil, northwest of Jerusalem, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

Anas Obeid, a resident of the village, told WAFA that Jewish settlers, accompanied by staff of settlement organizations, set up a huge menorah on the village mosque purportedly to celebrate the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.

According to local sources, 252 Israeli settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards under the protection of Israeli occupation forces and performed provocative tours, today.#FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/eLeud0Tlbb

— V PALESTINE 🇵🇸 (@V_Palestine20) November 25, 2021

The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, Hussam Abu al-Rub, condemned the settler move as an “infringement upon the sanctity” of the site as he stressed his rejection of any Israeli interference in the affairs of Islamic holy sites across Palestine.

He explained that the occupation authorities aim, through these measures, to appropriate the site and obliterate its Islamic features.

#WestBank: Israeli settlers attack Palestinians – https://t.co/ZTxZob3w7y #Palestine pic.twitter.com/TDLkE7AeXc

— al whit (@soitiz) November 25, 2021

There are over 600,000 Israeli settlers living in colonial settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Israel’s nation-state law that passed in July 2018 stated that building and strengthening the illegal Jewish settlements is a “national interest.”

(WAFA, PC, Social Media)