Today in the southern West Bank's Hebron District a heavily armed group

of Israeli settlers broke into the Halhoul Village Mosque and began

performing Jewish religious services.

Official Palestinian sources in the town told PNN on Thursday that the Israeli settlers carried machine guns and other weapons while overtaking the mosque for a half hour of Jewish prayer. Israeli soldiers occupying the area guarded the northern Hebron's mosque on behalf of the settlers.

Halhoul's Mayor, Dr. Ziyad Abu Youssef, said that this is not new, unfortunately, as Israeli settlers are taking to storming mosques with soldiers to guard them. "This is a direct assault on the sanctity of our mosques, our religion, our land and all Muslims," the Mayor said this afternoon.

Also on Thursday Israeli forces invaded the southern Hebron town of Yatta. The southern West Bank raid led to the arrest of 22 year old Ayman Houcher after Israeli forces broke into his father Kamal Houcher's Wadi Zeitoun neighborhood home near the Yatta Municipal Building. Hebron's Palestinian Joint Operations Security team issued details Thursday afternoon. Israeli soldiers burst into the family home, conducted an invasive search, and took Ayman to an unknown location.

*this article was reprinted from the Palestine News Network