PA requests Security Council, Arab League meetings on Jerusalem violence
Hamas and other Gaza-based terror groups called for “stepping up the Jerusalem uprising and threatened to respond to Israeli “aggression” against the Palestinians.
By KHALED ABU TOAMEHUpdated: MAY 8, 2021 17:15PALESTINIANS AND the Wakf Islamic religious trust have made it clear that Emiratis and Bahrainis are not welcome to pray in al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.(photo credit: AMMAR AWAD/REUTERS)
The Palestinian Authority said over the weekend that it was seeking emergency meetings of the United Nations Security Council and the Arab League members to discuss the latest upsurge in violence in Jerusalem.Hamas and other Gaza-based terror groups called for “stepping up the Jerusalem uprising and threatened to respond to Israeli “aggression” against the Palestinians.At least 200 protesters and 17 policemen were injured in large-scale clashes that erupted in the evening at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the Temple Mount and other parts of east Jerusalem.Commenting on Friday’s clashes between the police and thousands of rioters at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound and the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, PA President Mahmoud Abbas held the Israeli government “fully responsible for the dangerous developments and assaults in the holy city.”In a televised speech, Abbas called on the international community to “assume its full responsibilities to halt this aggression on our people and holy sites.” He also repeated his call for providing intentional protection for the Palestinians.“The terrorism of the settlers will only increase our determination to stick to our legitimate rights to end the occupation, attain freedom and independence and establish a sovereign and independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.”Abbas said he has instructed the Palestinian envoy to the UN to request an urgent meeting of the Security Council to discuss the latest developments in Jerusalem.On Saturday, the PA also officially requested an urgent meeting of the Arab League to “discuss Israeli crimes and assaults in Jerusalem, the occupied capital of the State of Palestine,” said Diab al-Louh, the PA ambassador to Cairo and permanent envoy to the Arab League.Louh said that he has been instructed by Abbas to call for the emergency meeting to discuss Israeli “assaults on worshipers at the al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan, as well as plans to seize the houses of Jerusalem residents, especially in Sheikh Jarrah.”He was referring to a court order to evict a number of Arab families from their houses in Sheikh Jarrah, which were owned by Jews before 1948.Louh described the latest violence as “an unprecedented catastrophe” and called on the Arab League members to “send a unified message against these systematic and ongoing practices and violations.”Abbas’s ruling Fatah faction said in a statement that “the battle waged by the Palestinians in Jerusalem is a battle over sovereignty and identity.”According to the statement, the residents of east Jerusalem have foiled former US President Donald Trump’s plan for peace in the Middle East, also known as the “Deal of the Century.”Fatah warned the Israeli government from pursuing its “aggression against our people.” It added that “history has proven over the past century that the will of the Palestinians cannot be broken and that their legitimate national project will not stop before ending all forms of the Israeli occupation.”Ahmad Majdalani, member of the PLO Executive Committee, accused Israel of “practicing state terrorism” in Jerusalem. He condemned the “storming of the al-Aqsa Mosque by the police as “a dangerous escalation.” Majdalani also called for providing international protection for the Palestinians and accused the Israeli government of committing “human rights violations and Judaizing Jerusalem.”Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh describe the clashes in Jerusalem as “an intifada and revolution that must continue.”Haniyeh, who is based in Qatar, warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “not to play with fire.” Addressing Netanyahu, the Hamas leader said: “This is a battle that you will not be able to win.”Senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk warned that “the Zionist enemy will pay the price for its attack on Jerusalem and the desecration of the al-Aqsa Mosque.” Abu Marzouk called on Palestinians to launch more confrontations with Israel. He said that the “silence of the Arabs and Muslims was allowing the occupation to increase its aggression on the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinian people and Judaize Jerusalem.”Khaled Mashaal, head of the Hamas “politburo” abroad, called on Palestinians in the West Bank to launch an intifada against Israel. He said that Hamas and other terror groups were ready to repel any Israeli “aggression” on the Gaza Strip, reference to a possible Israeli military operation in the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave.Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) secretary-general Ziyad al-Nakhaleh threatened to “respond to the aggression on the worshippers inside the al-Aqsa Mosque.”In a statement, the Lebanon-based PIJ leader said that Israel should “expect a response from us at any moment,” adding that his group cannot remain silent toward the developments in Jerusalem.The threats by PIJ and Hamas came as terrorists in the Gaza Strip said they would resume incendiary balloon attacks on Israel in the coming hours.In a related development, a number of Gaza-based factions called for resuming demonstrations near the border with Israel “to support the intifada of our people in Jerusalem.”
