‘Palestinians don’t accept Israeli ministers’ desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque’

The former Deputy Leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel insisted on Sunday that Palestinians will never accept the desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli ministers, Quds News has reported. “Palestinians will not raise the white flag on this issue,” said Shaikh Kamal Al-Khatib.

In a press release, Al-Khatib pointed out that such violations pave the way for “more dangerous” steps by Israel regarding the mosque. He called for all Palestinians to increase their visits and presence at Islam’s third holiest site in order to undermine Israeli plans to take over the Noble Sanctuary, which include the demolition of Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock Mosques and building a temple in their place.

On Sunday, Minister of Agriculture Uri Ariel stormed into the flashpoint Noble Sanctuary, in the first such visit by an Israeli official since 2015, reported Anadolu. Ariel’s move followed the lifting last week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a three-year ban on government officials and Knesset members visiting the site.

Netanyahu announced the ban in October 2015 in an effort to quell violence across the occupied West Bank, which had erupted in response to repeated incursions into Al-Aqsa by extremist Jewish settlers. He has since allowed Knesset members to visit the compound once every three months, Israeli media explained.

Al-Khatib pledged that the Palestinians would never let Israeli plans succeed. He remined the Israeli occupation authorities that the issue of Al-Aqsa Mosque is a red line for the people of Palestine and Muslims around the world. The difficult situation facing the Palestinian cause and the region does not affect or weaken the people when the issue is related to Al-Aqsa, he added.

Read: PA condemns authorisation by Netanyahu for MKs to visit Al-Aqsa