Israel: We will not raise electronic gates from Al Aqsa

Israel: We will not raise electronic gates from Al Aqsa

Arabic and International الاثنين 24 يوليو 2017



Israel said it would not lift the metal gates that were set up outside the Temple Mount to spark the worst clashes with the Palestinians in years, but could eventually reduce their use.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced that he would stop security coordination with Israel until it rescinded the decision to set up electronic gates at the entrances to Al Aqsa, which was taken after two Israeli policemen were shot dead on July 14.

But Netanyahu's right-wing government is afraid to look as if he has succumbed to Palestinian pressure on the Temple Mount, which was part of East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, and annexed to it in a move not recognized internationally.

"The killers will not tell us how to search for killers," Tzahi Hanegbi, Israel's regional development minister, told Army Radio.

"If they do not want to enter the mosque, let them not enter it."

Many Palestinians refuse to go through e-gates, pray on the streets and take part in protests that often turn violent, rejecting what they see as a violation of decades-old arrangements for worshipers to enter the Temple Mount.

Reuters witnesses said minor skirmishes took place between worshipers and Israeli security forces after evening prayers at the entrance to Jerusalem's Old City. There were no reports from Palestinian medical sources of any serious injuries.

Tensions, the deaths of three Israelis and the deaths of four Palestinians on Friday and Saturday raised international concern and prompted the UN Security Council to hold a meeting on Monday to discuss ways to calm the situation.

In Jordan, police said a Jordanian was killed and two people, including an Israeli, were wounded in a shooting on Sunday in a building inside the Israeli embassy complex in Amman.

The details of the incident were not clear, Israel imposed a ban on its coverage and made no official statements.

Jordan has been growing in public anger against Israel in recent days, and Jordanian officials have called on Israel to remove the metal detectors from the entrances to Al Aqsa.

On the other hand, religious authorities in Jerusalem issued a statement saying it would continue to oppose any new Israeli arrangements.

The statement said: "We affirm the unequivocal rejection of the electronic gates and all the measures of occupation, which would lead to a change in the historical and religious reality in Jerusalem and its holy sites, especially the Aqsa Mosque."

Turkey has demanded the lifting of the electronic gates. For its part, warned the Arab League on Sunday in a statement issued on behalf of its Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Israel that it is "playing with fire"; through the actions taken in the Old City of Jerusalem, and said that Jerusalem "red line".

http://www.skypressiq.net/2017/7/24/%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A%D9%84-%D9%84%D9%86-%D9%86%D8%B1%D9%81%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%B5%D9%89