Few things have as much bipartisan support in the U.S. as unconditional support for Israel. Ironically, while criticisms of the U.S. government are protected by the First Amendment, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have made it nearly impossible to criticize Israel without facing tangible consequences like public smearing, and even financial loss.

On 4 October, the Islamic Endowments Department in occupied Jerusalem reported that hundreds of settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque under strict protection from Israeli authorities.

According to the Palestinian News and Information Agency (WAFA), 300 Israeli settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in successive groups via the Mughrabi Gate.

The settlers carried out provocative acts and were allowed to perform their religious rituals in the courtyard under the protection of Israeli occupation forces, while many Muslim worshipers were forcibly removed from the area.

Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to authorize large construction projects in the West Bank in favor of Israeli settlers, as he continues to escalate in his attempt to garner support ahead of the elections.

Netanyahu, along with 30 members of the far-right Likud party, signed a declaration that calls for the development of settlements in the West Bank, under the slogan of “Moving Eastward.”

Jewish settlers on Tuesday chased Palestinian shepherds off their pastures in the Khillet Makhoul community, in the northern Jordan Valley, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

Aref Daraghmeh, a local activist, told WAFA that Jewish settlers chased the shepherds as solidarity activists were in the area to monitor the settlers’ harassment of the Palestinians.

On Monday, the Israeli authorities demolished the Al-Arakib Bedouin village in the Negev for the 207th time since 2010.

Many military vehicles and police cars surrounded and invaded the village, forcing the families out of their tents and sheds before demolishing the village for the 207th time.

On September 7th, the village was destroyed for the 206th time since 2010 after Israel decided not to recognize it.

Today’s demolition of the Bedouin community is the eleventh this year alone, while last year, the village was demolished 14 times.

Israeli forces have shot dead two Palestinian men during a raid near the town of Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank.

The two men were killed while in a car just outside the Jalazone refugee camp north of Ramallah.

The Palestinian official news agency, Wafa, identified them as 18-year-old Bassel Qassem Basbous and 21-year-old Khaled Fadi Anbar.

A third, Raafat Habash, 19, was also with them in the car and was was wounded in the shooting.

The bodies of the two men were taken by the Israeli army after they were killed, while Habash was arrested.

Israel is holding nearly 800 Palestinians without trial or charge, the highest number since 2008, an Israeli rights group said Sunday.

The group, HaMoked, which regularly gathers figures from Israeli prison authorities, said that 798 Palestinians are currently being held in so-called administrative detention, a practice where the prisoners can be held for months, do not know the charges against them and are not granted access to the evidence against them.

September that Israeli troops and extremist settlers have stormed and attacked 15 mosques since the start of the year.

The minister highlighted that these provocative actions come as a direct result of Tel Aviv’s policy which allows settlers to carry out violent and destructive acts with impunity, stressing that such behavior could trigger a religious war.

Jewish settlers perform religious Jewish rituals at Al-Aqsa Mosque under heavy army security. (Photo: PIC)

Dozens of Jewish settlers, escorted by Israeli occupation forces, broke into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied Jerusalem on Sunday and performed rituals across the courtyards of the Mosque, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

On May 11, an Israeli soldier killed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Jenin, and months later the perpetrator of this outrageous crime is still no closer to being brought to justice.