Sabri: Israeli break-ins at the Aqsa Mosque intended for dividing it
Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, the preacher of the Aqsa Mosque, warned Saturday that the repeated attempts by extremist Israeli settlers to storm the holy Mosque is aimed to sense the reaction of the Palestinian people before implementing plans to divide it as they had done with the Ibrahimi Mosque.
Sheikh Sabri added that any attempt to divide the Aqsa Mosque would be a great tragedy, calling on all Palestinians to cooperate in the protection of the Mosque as part of their religious duty towards it.
For his part, MP Ahmed Abu Halabia, who is in charge of the file of occupied Jerusalem in the Palestinian legislative council (PLC), said that the Israeli announced intents to desecrate the Aqsa Mosque are aimed at obliterating the Arab and Islamic landmarks in the holy city.
In a statement to the Palestinian information center (PIC), MP Abu Halabia urged the Palestinian people especially the people of Jerusalem to frequent the Mosque and perform prayers in its courtyards to repel any attempts by Israeli settlers and policemen to storm the Mosque.
He also appealed to the Palestinian resistance factions to resume its operations against the Israeli occupation in retaliation to its crimes against the Palestinian people and their holy places in Jerusalem.
The lawmaker stressed the need to afford legal experts and lawyers to file lawsuits against Israel for committing war crimes inside Jerusalem and use the media to expose the Israeli abusive practices against the Aqsa Mosque.
He noted that the holy city of Jerusalem needs half a billion dollars in order to be able to face Israeli Judaization schemes especially the ongoing excavations, and demolition and confiscation of homes.
In the same context, Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Abu Al-Gheit strongly denounced, during his participation in the annual meeting of ministers of foreign affairs of the organization of the Islamic conference held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s session, the Israeli violations committed against Jerusalem.
Gheit also expressed hope that the US administration headed by president Barack Obama would be able to fulfill its pledges regarding the restoration of the Palestinian legitimate rights especially the establishment of the independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.