Palestine warns against allowing Israeli settlers to visit Al-Aqsa Mosque

RAMALLAH -- Palestine on Saturday warned of the consequences of allowing Israeli settlers to visit the compound of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the old city of Jerusalem during the "Second Jewish Passover" on Sunday.

"These plans are an Israeli persistence to perpetuate visiting the Al-Aqsa as something imposed by force, to consolidate its temporal division to divide it spatially," the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that the Israeli government is responsible for the consequences should a conflict occur.

Earlier on Saturday, the Jewish "Temple Mount" groups called through social media platforms on their Jewish fans to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque collectively on Sunday to mark the anniversary of the "Second Jewish Passover."

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called on the international community and the United States to intervene urgently and put pressure on the Israeli government to stop the settler groups' visits to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

In April, during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover, the Al-Aqsa compound witnessed fierce confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinian worshipers who protested against Jewish visits to their holy site.

Tension at the Al-Aqsa Mosque could spark a military confrontation between armed Palestinian factions and Israel, similar to the last offensive waged by Israel on the Gaza Strip in May 2021.

For Muslims worldwide, the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the old city of Jerusalem is their first shrine and third mosque. They call the holy place al-Haram al-Sharif, while Jews call it "The Temple Mount."

The Palestinians want the eastern part of Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel together with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967, as the capital of their future state.