Abbas: Aggression must stop
Photo: AP
PRC threaten to avenge ‘Temple Mount desecration’
Palestinian factions condemn Israeli construction near al-Aqsa Mosque; Popular Resistance Committees promise retaliation: Zionists must prepare to gather bodies of their dead after we avenge this transgression
Palestinian Authority officials and faction representatives criticized Israeli construction near the al-Aqsa Mosque, some threatening retaliatory violence if Israel failed to call off the project.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas slammed “the aggressive steps of the occupation government in Jerusalem."
The renovation work, which Israel claims is aimed at mending a rickety bridge at the site, sparked violent riots on Friday by Muslims charging that Israel was sabotaging sites holy to Islam.
Riots in Capital
Police chief Franco says decision to break into Mount to quell Muslim riots was difficult but necessary. Police respond with stun grenades after rioters hurl stones, Molotov cocktails in protest of excavations near al-Aqsa Mosque
Others hastened to condemn the conduct of Israeli police. Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas parliament member, slammed Israel’s “attempt to destroy the al-Aqsa Mosque” and called on Arab nations to evict Israeli diplomats from their territory. Al-Masri made the comments during an interview with al-Jazeera Friday.
'Desecration will be avenged'
The Popular Resistance Committees expressed fury over the renovation work as well. PRC spokesperson Mohammad Abed al-Aal told Ynet that Palestinian organizations were busy preparing terror attacks to avenge “the desecration of the al-Aqsa Mosque.”
“The Israeli government was not pleased to see progress towards a unity Palestinian government, and therefore decided to desecrate the mosque,” he charged.
The spokesperson ruled out ceasefire agreements when Israel assails Islam by threatening the al-Aqsa Mosque, he said.
“The Zionists must prepare to gather the bodies of their dead after we avenge this transgression,” he threatened.
Al-Aal revealed that a number of Palestinian factions lately agreed to commit to a truce with Israel, but Friday’s events left no room for such pledges. “No international commitment will stop the Palestinians from responding with full force, since harming the al-Aqsa Mosque assaults the religion and honor of Arabs and Islamists. Therefore, we are preparing to respond everywhere deep within the Zionist territory,” he said.
In Egypt as well, demonstrators took the streets in protest of the Israeli construction project near the Muslim holy site. Egyptian police scattered hundreds of members of the Muslim Brotherhood who gathered in protest in Cairo.
