On Tuesday, Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs Sheikh Hatem Al-Bakri condemned the Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir’s storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces.

Al-Bakri said in a statement that this step is considered the most dangerous in many years for a figure of this official Israeli political level.

He stressed that this dangerous step in its meaning and timing comes in light of the agreements on the basis of which the current Israeli government, the most right-wing in the history of Israeli governments, was formed.

He stressed that the matter requires us to seriously read this step and deal with it according to a unified Palestinian vision starting from the foundations of our national project, especially in light of the tireless work of the so-called “temple groups” to create a new status quo inside Al-Aqsa Mosque that clearly exceeds the “status quo.” It was consolidated after the occupation of the city of Jerusalem in 1967.

He added, “The demands of the Temple groups regarding Al-Aqsa Mosque, and other steps, if taken, God forbid, will drag us into a religious war whose fire will rage in the entire region.”

Al-Bakri held the occupation government responsible for the escalation in general, and the recent escalation in particular, calling on the world and its legal and political institutions to work hard to stop these escalatory steps against our sanctities and places of worship, which are being subjected to Israeli violations.

He called on the Palestinian people to work to establish new working foundations that would protect Al-Aqsa Mosque and preserve it from tampering by Israeli officials and their settlers.