'Israel playing with fire if Aksa hit'

Mashaal calls on Palestinians everywhere to act to defend Al Aksa Mosque.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
temple mount 224.88 (photo credit: Areil Jerozolimski [file])
temple mount 224.88
(photo credit: Areil Jerozolimski [file])
Hamas leader-in-exile Khaled Mashaal lashed out at Israel on Sunday for an assault that allegedly took place Sunday on a road in Jerusalem's Old City called the Magharbeh, or Moroccans' Road. The assault, he claimed, would make it easier for IDF troops to attack the revered Al-Aksa Mosque and other Islamic sites nearby in the future. "Israel, who today is playing with fire when it touches Al-Aksa, knows the consequences of this playing with fire," Mashaal said. He also called on Palestinians in Jerusalem and everywhere to launch a "comprehensive, popular and continuous action to defend the Al-Aksa Mosque and Jerusalem." Mashaal warned Prime Minister Ehud Orlmert that this action would mimic the riots that erupted after former prime minister Ariel Sharon visited the Al-Aksa compound in 2000. "Olmert must learn the lesson ... the Israeli military and security command must learn the lesson of Sharon who sparked the intifada," Mashaal said.