Palestinian official warns of renewed Israeli threat in Quds

PA foreign minister has warned that Israel could go for another round of “nasty” actions aimed at changing the status quo of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which recently witnessed deadly tensions sparked by the regime’s restrictive measures there.

Riyad al-Maliki made the remarks in an address to an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on al-Aqsa in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Tuesday.

Tensions erupted in East Jerusalem al-Quds after a deadly shootout on July 14 outside the Haram al-Sharif, which Jews call Temple Mount.

Using the gunfight as a pretext, Israel set up metal detectors and surveillance cameras at entrances to the al-Aqsa compound.

Palestinians held protests and complained that the bans were meant to expand the regime’s control over the highly-sensitive site.

On July 24, Tel Aviv backed down in the face of violent clashes and removed all the restrictions at the al-Aqsa compound, but tensions still remain high there.

Maliki described Israel’s decision to remove the devices at the al-Aqsa gates as a “small victory in the long battle for freedom.”

“We know that Netanyahu is not going to accept defeat and he will try again and again with different methods and different means to impose his own status-quo over the Haram al-Sharif and al-Quds. We have to be prepared for the next round which could come very soon and could be very nasty,” he added.