Palestinians are accusing the new Israeli government of looking to anchor a new reality at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem after Israeli police stormed on Sunday the compound that is regarded as Islam’s third holiest site.
An imminent religious war will burn down the entire region if Israel does not stop its violations against the mosque, Palestinians warned.
The Palestinian Authority (PA), which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, held the Israeli government fully responsible for the escalation, which it said threatens both security and stability and challenges US demands for maintaining the historical status quo of East Jerusalem.
The Israeli government “is tampering with the security and stability of the region, and is dragging the region into a religious war,” PA spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement cited by the official Wafa news agency.
He termed the Israeli practices in occupied Jerusalem as a “defiance to the Palestinian people and disregard of international positions, especially the American one,” which demand Israel to preserve the status quo in East Jerusalem.
Over 1,300 Israeli settlers forced their way into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Sunday, amid tension over plans by settler groups to storm the flashpoint site to mark the anniversary of what they call the “destruction of the temple” in ancient times.
Israeli police forcefully evacuated Muslim worshippers to clear the way for the settlers in one of the most sensitive venues in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Protected by Israeli police, settlers toured the mosque’s courtyards and performed Talmudic rituals in front of the Dome of the Rock, while others were praying at the gates of the mosque.
Israeli police monitor and regulate Jewish visits to the compound, which houses Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett gave the green light for Israeli police to continue to storm the compound.
According to a statement released by his office, Bennett had reviewed the security situation with Public Security Minister Omer Barlev and Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai. He ordered maintaining freedom of worship for Jews on the Temple Mount.
Jews call the area of Al-Aqsa Mosque the Temple Mount, claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
