PA warns of Israel violating Islamic, Christian sanctities in Jerusalem

The Palestinian Presidency yesterday warned of the “danger of the Israeli decision to impose restrictions on the entry of Christian worshippers to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in occupied Jerusalem.”

The Presidency spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said in a statement that the occupation’s decision was a “continuation of the Israeli escalation against the city of Jerusalem and its sanctities,” explaining that it was coinciding with the “continuous incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli Jewish extremists under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces.”

Abu Rudeineh added the decision was a “blatant and dangerous challenge to the heavenly religions and their sanctities, a provocation and a disregard for all human and religious values.”

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The Palestinian official described the Israeli restriction on the Islamic-Christian presence as a “war against the Palestinian people and Jerusalem and its sanctities,” stressing that it was “another violation of the historical status quo in the holy city.”

“All the Israeli measures, whether in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre or any other holy religious sites are rejected and are illegitimate,” Abu Rudeineh reiterated, noting that they were “violating the international law that recognises the State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the pre-1967 borders.”

The Palestinian leadership, Abu Rudeineh pointed out, had called on the international parties “to assume their responsibilities towards stopping these Israeli violations that affect the sanctity of the place and freedom of worship.”