LIVE BLOG: Jerusalem on the brink

Jon Ashworth is one of a group of British MPs who visited the al-Aqsa mosque in August. While Ashworth was there Rabbi Glick, who survived an assassination attempt on Wednesday, was escorted out of the mosque by Israeli authorities after skirmishing with Palestinian worshippers.

“There was huge tension there. Worshippers were gathered outside the mosque, clearly fearful that people of other faiths wanted to enter it and use it to make a statement about their own faith. “

“Jews have their claims too but at the end of the day it is a mosque. In this part of the world within yards of each other are three incredibly holy sites for the Abrahamic faiths. The Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the al-Aqsa Mosque. Surely there must be a way for these Abrahamic to live side by side in relative peace and harmony?

The head of the Fatah movement in Jerusalem, Adnan Gheith, told local news site Quds TV on Thursday that the attempted assassination of Yehuda Glick last night, allegedly carried out by Mu'taz Hijazi, was "a result of the criminal acts carried out by the Israeli occupation in the occupied city.

"The attempted assassination of Yehuda Glick was a natural reaction to these crimes.

"Hijazi was one of the movement's sons, and one of our activists in the city. 

"Since his release from prison in 2012, he has participated in all of Fatah's activities and was an active member."

Dr Sheikh Ekrimah Saeed Sabry, the imam of al-Aqsa Mosque and the former grand mufti of Jerusalem, spoke to MEE a few minutes ago.

He called the decision to close al-Aqsa on Thursday an "aggressive move taken by the occupying authorities to placate hardline right-wing Israelis.

He said that, after the decision, Jewish worshippers will not be able to "complain about being prevented from praying at the compound" because Israeli authorities have also prevented Muslims from praying there.

However, Sabry said, the comparison is "void...because Muslims are the ones who have the right to al-Aqsa."Today, no-one is entering al-Aqsa. We will wait until tomorrow to see what the situation will be.

"If they open it tomorrow, there will be no problems. But if the closure continues tomorrow, Friday, there will definitely be tensions and disorder - the Israeli government is responsible for those tensions.

"If we are prevented from praying at al-Aqsa Mosque tomorrow, we will insist on entering."

In an exclusive photos dated 31 August and obtained by MEE, right-wing Israeli activist Yehuda Glick, shot in Jerusalem on Wednesday night, can be seen walking in the courtyard of the al-Aqsa Mosque with a Jewish family. Glick is known to regularly enter the Aqsa complex on an almost daily basis, surrounded by Israeli security, Aqsa officials told MEE. 

Clashes in al-Thawri, the East Jerusalem neighbourhood where Mu'taz Hijazi was shot this morning, have been ongoing throughout Thursday.

A car was set on fire, amid a huge deployment of Israeli troops and clouds of tear gas.

David Ha'ivri, a prominent US-born Israeli settler and a friend of Rabbi Glick who survived an assassination attempt last night in Jerusalem, told Middle East Eye that the Israeli government were partly to blame for the attack.

There are known individuals and organisations like Hamas and Islamic Jihad who have been inciting against the rights to Jews to pray on the Temple Mount. It’s the negligence on the side of the authorities in Israel that is allowing this incitement to go on. Surely this incitement against Jews has paved the way for terrorists like this one to target Jews whose simple wish is to pray in a holy place.

Ha’ivri, a controversial figure in Israel and a fierce opponent of attempts to put a freeze on settlement building, was arrested for celebrating the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in a television interview and served six month jail time in connection with the desecration of a mosque.

Ha’ivri said that foreign pressure had prevented the Israeli government from meeting the "religious rights and needs" of its people.

There hasn’t been access for Jews to Holy Mount because the Israeli government was overly concerned with foreign pressures on Israel’s internal issues. I hope that the current government is learning to understand that it needs to set its own internal affairs according to the needs of the people of Israel.  

Israel has a democracy, and as the Jewish State it needs to provide freedom of prayer to the Jewish people to our most holy site. I’m sorry and distressed that this event was needed to highlight this very unfortunate circumstance. The government of Israel needs to revaluate its policy toward the Temple Mount.

al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said on Thursday that Jerusalem was the spark of their most recent campaign, al-Asf al-Ma'akoul, launched during the most recent war in Gaza.

The statement was a reference to the deaths in Jerusalem of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, the Palestinian teen who was killed in a revenge attack after the capture and killing of three Israeli teenaged settlers.

The al-Qassam spokesperson, Abu Abida, said that Jerusalem will again be the spark of the battle to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation.

The family of Mu'taz Hijazi, the man killed by Israeli security forces this morning, have been told that his house will be demolished within 24 hours, reports local satelite TV channel Quds TV.

Hijazi's father has now been released from detention - he was arrested after Israeli forces stormed the house, killing Mu'taz, who was accused of attempting to assassinate Yehuda Glick on Wednesday night.

Lehava, a far-right Israeli group dedicated to opposing marriages between Jewish Israelis and Muslim Arabs, was among the groups that was involved in the storming of the al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem an hour ago.

Anti-Arab graffiti to be investigated

Israeli police say they are now investigating graffiti daubed overnight last night, that read "Death to Arabs."

The message was daubed seven times on the outer walls of Max Rayne Jerusalem School, one of only five co-educational Arab/Israeli schools in the whole of Israel.

It is thought the message was sprayed after the attack on Yehuda Glick, head of the Temple Mount Faithful Organisation.

In a further speech on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that "Israel is committed to upholding the status quo at Temple Mount", the phrase Jewish Israelis use to describe the al-Aqsa compound.

"The closure of Temple Mount is temporary, and is meant to prevent riots and escalation as well as to restore calm and the status quo to the Holy Places."

"We will continue to guarantee freedom of worship for members of all faiths."

Prior to the closure of the holy compound, all Palestinian men under the age of 40 had regularly been prevented from entering the site to pray.

In an earlier speech, Netanyahu called on the international community to condemn Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for "incitement" when he demanded that Jewish worshippers be prevented from entering the site, considered the third most sacred location in Islam.

Netanyahu's second comments came as four Israeli activists were arrested for attempting to storm the compound in East Jerusalem.

Reuters journalist Noah Browning has linked to a video of Mu'taz Hijazi, the Palestinian shot dead this morning by Israeli police after being accused of shooting an Israeli right-wing activist.

In the video from 2012 Hijazi tells the person interviewing him: "I will be a thorn in the throat of Zionest plot in Jerusalem."

Israeli Prime Minister has ordered a "significant" hike in police deployment in Jerusalem, in an effort to quell the clashes that have broken out.

The order came after Israeli authorities raised their level of preparedness to three, the second highest.

In a speech on Thursday morning, Netanyahu commended the Israeli security services for "solving the terror attack quickly", in reference to yesterday's attempted assassination of a right-wing Israeli activist and the shooting dead of a suspect this morning.

Netanyahu said Israel was "faced with a wave of incitement led by radical Islamist elements as well as by PA chairman Abbas."

"The international community must stop its hypocrisy and act against inciters who try to change the status quo on Temple Mount."

Israel has come under significant pressure from key allies like the US over settlement policies and plans to divide al-Aqsa Mosque, known to Jewish worshippers as Temple Mount.

US-Israeli ties are severely strained after an article published by The Atlantic quoted a US official as saying that Netanyahu was "chickenshit", and that relations between the countries are undergoing a "full-blown crisis."

In a speech on Wednesday night, the full text of which can be found here, Netanyahu said: "I respect and appreciate our deep ties with the US.

"Since the foundation of our state we have had disagreements with the US and we will yet have them. But this is not at the expense of the deep ties between our people and countries."

Netanyahu also stressed that he had "risked his life" for Israel many times, and is "responsible for Israel's security."

Translation: Sit-in of Jerusalemites, some shouting "Allahu Akbar" towards Israeli soldiers, at al-Wad Street after decision to close al-Aqsa

A number of people were injured during the clashes that broke out during the sit-in - Palestine Information Centre reports that children were among the wounded.

Activists who tried to storm the compound were stopped by regular Israeli police personnel and border guards.

Attempts by activists to storm the compound come amid reports by Palestine Information Centre that Israeli authorities have prevented the azan, the Muslim call to prayer, from being broadcast from the minaret of al-Aqsa Mosque for the first time since 1267.