WEST BANK (Dispatches) – The Zionist regime is desperately attempting to change the status quo of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied Old City of Al-Quds, says the head of Al-Quds Research Center.
Ziyad al-Hammouri said there were attempts by the occupying regime to construct a Jewish temple on the ruins of Al-Aqsa.
He said the regime along with its settlers have built an entire city under the Old City.
Hammouri accused the United States, the occupying regime’s key supporter and great benefactor, of encouraging the regime to keep violating the rights of the Palestinians and desecrating their holy sites.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Diyab, a member of the Islamic Commission in Al-Quds, said Zionist regime authorities had started work on establishing settler outposts around the mosque to tighten the grip on the holy site as a prelude to change its status quo. He warned the regime was seeking to grab and steal more land belonging to Al-Quds citizens.
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has already warned the Tel Aviv regime against crossing “red lines” at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Extremist right-wing groups openly call for turning Al-Aqsa into a Jewish worship area and tearing down the Islamic shrines in order to build a Jewish temple on the location. Zionist settlers have frequently marched on the Al-Aqsa Mosque to place the foundation stone of their ‘third temple’ inside the mosque. The provocative moves have infuriated the Palestinians.
Under the current status quo, only Muslims are allowed to worship within the compound while non-Muslims may visit the site, but are not allowed to pray there.
In May 2021, frequent acts of violence against Palestinian worshipers at Al-Aqsa Mosque led to an 11-day war between the regime and resistance groups in the besieged Gaza Strip. The occupying regime killed at least 260 Palestinians, including 66 children, in the conflict.