The Temple Mount, where the two ancient temples are believed to have stood, is considered Judaism’s holiest site.
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The Palestinian leader said there were “illegal excavations under Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Old City, setting up walls’ to alienate Palestinian neighborhoods”.
Turning to recent remarks by Netanyahu, Abbas said, “When the Israeli Prime Minister tries to absolve Adolf Hitler from his ugly crimes, against the Jews, and blame Palestinians for these crimes, he is trying thereby to justify the crimes committed against the Palestinian people”.
“Israel has an interest in stationing cameras in all parts of the Temple Mount”.
Netanyahu has repeatedly denied plans to change the status quo.
A local activist, Imad Abu Shamsieh, told Ma’an that “Israeli soldiers opened fire at a youth in the Tel Rumeida area where Hammam Said was killed on Tuesday”. He said he expects the cameras to be installed in “days, not weeks”. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with the media. As long as Palestinian leaders continue refusing to denounce the violence and insist on distorting realities on the ground, we fear the conflict will persist.
Since October 1, at the very least fifty nine Palestinians, 32 of whom Israel has stated have been armed assailants, have been shot dead by Israelis on the scene of attacks or throughout protests within the West Bank and in Gaza.
On Tuesday a 76-year-old Israeli man who was shot in the head and stabbed in the chest in an attack on a Jerusalem bus on October 13 succumbed to his wounds, according to the Hadassah hospital.
The violence continued Sunday. The military initially said the attackers were disguised as ultra-Orthodox Jews but later retracted the detail after an investigation, saying it was incorrect. Entry of other Muslim worshippers into the mosque compound has since been restricted by Israeli police.
“The occupation does not have the right to intervene in any of the affairs of the Islamic Waqf or Al-Aqsa Mosque”, the statement said. “It was never anything other than a mosque”. Hours later, another Palestinian was shot and killed by soldiers after he tried to stab an Israeli, the military said.
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Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has called for global protection for Palestinians in the occupied territories against a background of continuing bloodshed and the absence of any hope for the renewal of peace negotiations any time soon. “He believed deeply in a two-state solution and wanted to see Arabs and Jews living together in peace”, he said. “The situation in Palestine is extremely serious and grave and may even deteriorate”.
