Israeli police have begun placing new cameras at the Council Gate of Al-Aqsa Mosque to monitor Palestinians’ entry and exit, Safa News Agency has reported.
Director of Al-Aqsa Academy for Science and Heritage Sheikh Najeh Bkeerat said that Israeli police “are placing the cameras to monitor the movement in and out of Al-Aqsa Mosque and to restrict the movement of Jerusalemites, mainly in the Old City”.
According to Safa, Israeli Interior Minister Gilad Erdan said he was preparing a security plan to prevent “Palestinian attacks” in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem.
#Israeli Settlers 'Tour' Al-#Aqsa Mosque under Heavy Police Protection (VIDEO) https://t.co/OlWx17vi4G @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/dQD5nujw5x
— Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) November 5, 2017
The plan includes tightening the security fence in Damascus Gate and the Old City by setting up inspection points similar to military checkpoints.
Bkeerat said: “It is clear that the occupation prepared this plan after the defeat of the Israeli police and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and after the Jerusalemites’ victory in the Al-Aqsa Battle,” in reference to Israel’s decision in July to remove electronic detectors it installed at the doors of the holy site after large protests.
Bkeerat said that the Israeli occupation started the implementation of its plan after expelling a number of Jerusalemites from the Old City and after tightening its security grip on the area by setting up military barriers and inspection points.
Israel launches a new 100-strong police unit to prop up & tighten Israeli control over the Holy al-Aqsa Mosque https://t.co/6ED583H4cY
— Sarah Wilkinson (@swilkinsonbc) November 1, 2017
He described this move as a new “dangerous Israeli attack,” which will usher in “worse” measures. He noted that this is an “announcement of war on Al-Aqsa Mosque, to divide it and try to force Jerusalemites out of the Old City and from around the holy site”.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
