Netanyahu allows Knesset members to storm Al-Aqsa

Israel’s Channel 2 reported that yesterday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave authorisation for Knesset members to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque next Tuesday.

Netanyahu issued an order prohibiting members of the Knesset from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque in October 2015, since the outbreak of the uprising in Jerusalem. In July he temporarily lifted the ban following a legal petition by far-right Knesset member Yehuda Glick.

This decision was made after security considerations determined that the storming of Al-Aqsa by Israeli groups, including ministers and MKs, are a major factor in provoking Palestinians. The Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam.

Dozens of settlers storm the mosque with the protection of the Israeli police on a daily basis. UNESCO deemed Al-Aqsa Mosque an Islamic heritage last October.

In protest to the ban Yehuda Glick organised a raid at Al-Aqsa Mosque yesterday in which 135 right-wing Israelis stormed the compound under the protection of Israeli police while Glick performed prayers outside the holy site’s gates.

Read: UNESCO vote declares no link between Al-Aqsa and Judaism