Mashaal calls on Muslims to ‘defend’ al-Aqsa Mosque

Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal accused Israel of trying to take over al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount and called on Muslims to “defend” it.

Mashaal, who lives in the Qatari capital of Doha, said that Israel was trying to take advantage of the crises in Syria and Iraq to assert control over the site, which is holy to both Jews and Muslims, Israel Radio reported Thursday.

The Temple Mount compound has seen numerous violent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police over the past several weeks, as tensions boiled over during the Jewish High Holidays, during which Jewish worshipers flock to Jerusalem to pray at the Western Wall below the Temple Mount.

Three policemen were injured Wednesday during protests against restrictions on Muslim worship at the mosque. Police used stun grenades as a crowd of about 400 people gathered near the entrance to the mosque, an AFP photographer reported.

On Monday morning, Israel Police forces surrounded the al-Aqsa mosque and entered the plaza atop the Temple Mount after receiving information that Palestinian activists had gathered stones and set barbed wire obstacles in preparation for planned attacks against Jewish visitors to the site.

Upon entering the site, police were met with rocks, firebombs and fireworks, which were hurled at them by the protesters, Israel Radio reported. The rioters were then pushed back into the mosque. Police removed multiple obstacles at the site, including stretches of barbed wire, and it was finally opened to non-Muslim visitors at 7:30 a.m.

The simmering tensions prompted UN Secretary General Bank Ki-moon to say he was “deeply concerned by repeated provocations at the holy sites in Jerusalem,” which “inflame tensions and must stop.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday blamed “Palestinian extremists” for the repeated clashes at the contested site.