ISRAEL has decided to remove the metal detectors it had placed at the entrance to al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied East Jerusalem and replace them with more advanced surveillance cameras.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet voted to remove the metal detector gates after a meeting lasting several hours convening for a second time on Monday.
The Director of Al-Aqsa Mosque Sheikh Najeh Bakirat, said overnight on Tueday that the move does not fullfil the demands of the Muslim worshippers as the security cameras are being kept.
Plus, AnAl-Aqsa Afficial Sheikh Raed Saleh, said that the Palestinians will “never accept the current status, unless everything that was added after 14th July was removed”.
“The picture until this moment is not clear, they are doing it in the middle of night, in the cover of darkness, like bats. God knows what we are going to wake up the next morning.”
Israel installed metal detectors and security cameras after gunmen shot dead two Israeli guards near al-Aqsa compound – Islam’s third holiest site – on 14th July.
The media, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, reports that as the metal detectors were being removed, hundreds of Palestinians protested against the security cameras that remained in place.
The bulldozers were laying cables for new cameras with advanced face recognition software.
The cabinet statement added that it had allocated 100 million shekels (about $28 million) for the equipment and for additional police officers.
“Israeli forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets, stun grenades at the protesters, and more security forces were placed at the Lions’ gate of the mosque,” our correspondent said.
“There’s a huge amount of anger, Palestinians say they will never accept any security measures at the al-Aqsa mosque compound.
“I do not think Palestinians will accept the security cameras”, he said.
At least five Palestinians have been killed and hundreds injured in clashes sparked by the new security measures.
Three Israelis were also killed when a Palestinian sneaked into a house in a West Bank settlement and stabbed them.
On Friday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has announced that the Palestinian leadership will freeze all contact with Israel.
-AL JAZEERA
