Hamas said Friday that new Israeli measures at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, including the allowance of Jewish prayer books and organized public prayers inside the mosque compound, would “not succeed in altering the mosque’s Islamic identity,” Anadolu reports.
The Palestinian group issued the statement on the 57th anniversary of a 1969 arson attack on the holy site, and days after Israeli police allowed Jewish prayer books to be brought into the mosque compound.
“The [Israeli] occupation’s plans will not succeed in Judaizing the Al-Aqsa Mosque, changing its characteristics, erasing its identity, dividing it temporally or spatially, or legitimizing Talmudic rituals in its courtyards,” Hamas said.
The group added that Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s decision to allow Jewish prayer books into the mosque compound and permit organized public prayers in its courtyards represented an “escalatory step” against the site’s “sanctity and historic Islamic identity.”
Last week, Israeli police allowed a group of religious Jews to bring prayer books into the mosque compound, after allowing printed prayer sheets to be brought in since January, according to Israeli reports.
