Hamas on Wednesday claimed responsibility for a Jerusalem car attack that killed one Israeli border policeman and injured 14 others earlier in the day.
Hamas said in a statement that Ibrahim al-Akkari, the alleged attacker, took "revenge for his people," for the al-Aqsa mosque, and for Jerusalem through the attack.
The military wing of Hamas, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, meanwhile said on Wednesday following the attack that "al-Aqsa is the detonator that will cause a volcano to erupt in Israel's face."
Spokesman for the brigades Abu Ubaida hailed the "heroes of Jerusalem and Hamas fighters" who defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque with their souls and blood.
East Jerusalem has been under Israeli occupation since 1967, and in recent weeks Israeli authorities have frequently limited access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam's third-holiest site.
The limitations have sparked near daily clashes in the holy city, following a tense few months across the region.
Over summer, Israel launched a massive assault against on Gaza, leaving more than 2,200 Palestinian dead.
The offensive followed a major arrest campaign against Hamas in the West Bank in June, which left at least 600 of the group's members in Israeli jails and left almost a dozen dead.
The Israeli border police -- the target of Wednesday's car attack -- are the security arm of the national police, and frequently work with the army in occupied Palestinian territory such as East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
(Ma'an News)
