Not Permissible to harm Al-Aqsa Status Quo, Preacher Says

IQNA – Preacher of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, said the mosque is too holy to be subjected to the Israeli occupation’s decisions, referring to statements by Israel’s extremist security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, who called for changing the status quo at the Muslim holy site.

Sheikh Sabri considered the statements and procedures “unacceptable”, stressing that any change to the status quo is rejected by all Muslims and is an interference in the mosque’s management; such efforts are invalid and doomed to failure, Middle East Monitor reported on Friday.

“It is not permissible to harm the sanctity of Al-Aqsa or the status quo therein,” he said, reiterating his refusal to allow the Al-Aqsa Mosque to become a military barracks by increasing the number of Israeli forces around it, stressing that the mosque is a place of worship, and the Israeli forces’ presence is an interference in its administration.

He warned that the Israeli occupation is seeking to impose control and sovereignty over Al-Aqsa.

Ben-Gvir recently said that he had prepared an integrated plan to impose new restrictions on Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, which would lead to changing the “status quo” there.

The plan requires the national security ministry to expand the use of technological means at the mosque’s entrances and to take measures to strengthen Israeli “control” over the mosque.

Hamas' call to protect Al-Aqsa

Meanwhile Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas called on Palestinians to congregate in Al-Aqsa Mosque as of today's Friday prayers until Monday in defense of Al-Aqsa and to thwart the enemy's plan, Al Mayadeen reported on Friday.

The movement added that the call comes to "abort the plans of the Zionist enemy and its extremist settler gangs and the so-called Temple group to desecrate the courtyards of Al-Aqsa and perform sacrificial rituals inside it on the upcoming Sunday and Monday."

The movement also commended Palestinians' commitment to the path of struggle and sacrifice, and expressed its support for their ongoing efforts to safeguard and defend al-Quds and Al-Aqsa, while standing firm against the endeavors of the oppressive occupation government and its perpetrators of war crimes, particularly Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Hamas called on the nations and the free peoples worldwide to employ all forms of solidarity and support for al-Quds, Al-Aqsa, and Gaza and to support the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people until the aggression is halted, rights are obtained, and Palestinian soil and sanctities are liberated.

Source: Agencies