JERUSALEM: The Israeli authorities have closed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem for all worshipers for the first time since 1967 while the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called the closure a ‘declaration of war.’
The Israeli public security minister said that both Jewish and Muslim worshipers will be prohibited from visiting the site “until further notice.”
The director of Al-Aqsa Mosque Omar Al-Kiswani told RT that the decision to close the site was very dangerous and irrational, in that it would lead to destabilization and a strengthening of tensions not only in Jerusalem but in the entire region.
Al-Kiswani said that the situation in Jerusalem has been turbulent as a result of the closure.
“We lay responsibility for this decision on the Israeli government and police,” Al-Kiswani said.
The closure of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound came after a right-wing Jewish activist Yehuda Glick was seriously injured in a drive-by shooting in Jerusalem late Wednesday.
