Ashrawi: Opening 2nd Aqsa gate to Jews 'insulting' to Muslims

PLO Executive Committee Member Hanan Ashrawi said Monday that a new plan to allow Zionists to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque compound through a second gate was a "loud insult" to Muslims around the world.

"Israel is creating a new reality at the expense of Palestinians, their religious rights, sites, and historical identity," Ashrawi said in a statement.

"They are violating the sanctity of religious sites without consequences, which completely terminates possibilities for peace and will ultimately drag the whole region into disastrous clashes."

Ashrawi, who is a Palestinian Christian, also said that Zionist regime was using religion to control holy sites that do not belong to it.

She called on the international community to hold Zionist regime accountable for violations against Muslim and Christian holy sites in East al-Quds and the rest of Palestine.

Army radio announced earlier that the Zionist regime’s ministry of tourism was working on a plan to allow Jews to enter the Al-Aqsa compound through the Cotton Merchants Gate, in addition to the Moroccan Gate which is already used as an entrance for non-Muslims.

Due to the sensitive nature of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Zionist regime maintains a compromise with the Islamic trust that controls the compound to restrict the area for Muslim prayers.

Zionist troops, however, regularly escort right-wing Zionist visitors to the site, leading to tension with Palestinian worshipers.

East Jerusalem (al-Quds) was occupied by the Zionist regime’s army in 1967 and later annexed in a move never recognized by the international community.