Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, and the preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque, has expressed outrage at the Israeli occupation forces’ storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the siege of worshippers. He also condemned the Occupation Forces’ attempts to take off the doors of the mosque by force so as to clear it of worshipers, and the Occupation’s beating and arresting of worshipers; and firing of gas and sound bombs on them.
In a statement made by Sheikh Hussein, he considered the Israeli Occupation Forces’ actions as “among the worst violations that such authorities are making against Palestinians and what’s sacred to them, and that such actions are meant to allow Jewish extremists to storm into the blessed Al Aqsa Mosque … provide protection for those extremists by emptying the mosque from worshipers and defenders.”
He pointed out that “these acts contradict divine laws and conventions as well as international law.” And he added, “The attack on what’s sacred for the Palestinians, especially Al Aqsa Mosque, shows that Occupation Authorities are doing their best to suppress Palestinians and uproot them from their lands, and highlights the threat constituted in Israeli mal-intentions against Palestinians and their sacred.”
He mentioned that such attacks against the Palestinians were planned and organized ahead, which “signifies the magnitude of irresponsibility, arrogance, and extremism reached by the Israeli occupation.”
“Such attacks will only strengthen our resolve and make us hold on to our rights, lands, and sacred, no matter how much we sacrifice,” he said.
The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem has called for action on the part of the Arab and Muslim worlds, as well as the intervention of the international community’s relevant institutions and organizations so as to stop these violations against the Palestinian sacred places and worshipers. He also called upon the Palestinian people from different factions and levels to head toward unity, which “will protect our people and our sacred sites from enemies.”