clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Israeli MKs given green light by Netanyahu to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque

August 26, 2017 at 12:53 pm

Israeli settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem [Palinfo]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given the green light for members of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, to storm into Al-Aqsa Mosque this week, Anadolu has reported. Hamas has condemned the decision as “extremist” and said that it could “explode” an already tense situation.

“The decision to allow Israeli MKs to raid Al-Aqsa Mosque on Tuesday is extremely provocative,” added the Islamic Resistance Movement’s spokesman, Abdul Latif Al-Qano. “The Israeli occupation must bear the responsibility for any consequences of its decisions about the Noble Sanctuary.”

Al-Qano reiterated that the Palestinian people would continue to defend Al-Aqsa Mosque and undermine Israeli incursions. If the raid goes ahead, it will be the first time in eighteen months that MKs have gone into the sanctuary.

According to Israeli Channel 2 TV, the Knesset was planning to discuss the issue of permission for its members to enter the mosque, but Netanyahu decided that it should only be for one day as an “experience”. He actually banned MKs and other politicians in November 2015 from entering the mosque following a wave of violence.

Several Israeli officials and MKs have called for Netanyahu to cancel the ban. Last week, one extremist rabbi and MK, Yehuda Glick, set up his office at one of the gates of the sanctuary in protest against the prime minister’s decision to stop parliamentarians from entering the mosque.