As Israeli authorities restricted entrance into the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, a Muslim holy site, the chief of Hamas called for the mosque's defense.
Khaled Meshaal accused the Israelis of attempting to seize the mosque, regarded as holy by Muslims and Jews, after it was decided only Palestinians over age 50 could enter. The action fueled speculation the mosque would be closed.
"We call on all our people inside the country to hurry up to al-Aqsa to defend it. We call on the nation to be angry and to send a message of painful anger to the world that the Palestinian people, the Arab and Muslim nation, will not be silent at the Israeli crime," Meshaal said in a statement.
It led to a protest demonstration Friday by hundreds of Palestinians, who chanted anti-Israeli slogans and threats.
Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police have taken place almost daily in the neighborhood of the mosque in the past several weeks, as major religious observances occurred for Muslims and Jews. At Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, last month, police cordoned off the area and again allowed only Palestinians over 50 to enter the mosque. It followed the torture and death of a 16-year old Palestinian, regarded as a reprisal for the deaths of three Israeli teens in the West Bank; both incidents preceded the 50-day war between Israel and Gaza.
The Al-Aqsa mosque is on the former site of a Biblical temple. After Israel acquired control of the territory in 1967, the mosque was immediately handed over to Muslim officials.
