Director of al-Aqsa Mosque Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani strongly condemned the simmering Israeli break-ins at the site—the third holiest place of worship in Islam.
According to al-Kiswani the fact that 517 Israeli settlers defiled al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday is an “ill omen.”
He added that such break-ins do not give the Israelis sovereignty over the site.
Sheikh al-Kiswani further warned of the upsurge in the Israeli break-ins at al-Aqsa compared to previous years.
“These assaults are carried out by the Israelis under the religious pretext in an attempt to impose a new fait accompli on the ground and interfere in the affairs of al-Aqsa Mosque” said al-Kiswani warning of the counterfeit maps and brochures propagated by the Israeli forces and settlers on the history of the alleged Temple Mount.
Al-Aqsa director further denounced the sacrilegious assaults carried out by the heavily-armed Israeli forces at al-Aqsa and crackdowns on the Muslim worshipers in a flagrant violation of Muslims’ right to the freedom of worship.
Al-Kiswani called on the international community and Arab governments to rally around the Islamic authorities in Occupied Jerusalem and to speak up for al-Aqsa and the peaceful Muslim worshipers.
