Zionist Entity is working towards war with designs on destroying the al-Aqsa Mosque, a commentator tells Press TV.
“It would be very simple now for Israel at this point with all the chaos in the region to destroy al-Aqsa and I think we can see an opportunity whereby they are making that happen. They are forcing that hand,” Scott Rickard, a former US intelligence linguist from Orlando said in an interview with Press TV .
“Israel is igniting dynamite here and has absolutely crossed many boundaries in the last week that actually I think they’re working towards a war here.”
He emphasized, “They have claimed the entire Jerusalem this last week under Netanyahu. They are forbidding access to the religious sites and it’s almost as if they’re bringing on a much higher scale of war, purposefully.”
The remarks come after Israeli occupation forces closed the al-Aqsa Mosque compound to all Palestinian worshippers and visitors until further notice.
Israel has deployed nearly a thousand soldiers and erected several roadblocks around the holy Islamic site in East Jerusalem al-Quds.
The closure of the mosque was ordered after Israeli forces invaded the home of former Palestinian prisoner Moa’tazHijazy and killed him. They accused him of shooting far-right Israeli Rabbi Yehuda Glick on Wednesday night.
Clashes have escalated for the last month between Palestinian worshippers and Israeli settlers and troops, with scores of Palestinians injured and killed.
Over the past decades, Israel has tried to change the demographic makeup of al-Quds by constructing illegal settlements, destroying historical sites and expelling the local Palestinian population.
Iran censures Zionist desecration of al-Aqsa Mosque
On the other hand, Iran condemned Zionist entity’s latest decision to temporarily close the al-Aqsa Mosque to Muslim worshippers that has made it off limits to Palestinians.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman MarziehAfkham warned on Friday against the ramifications of the dangerous move and called on all Muslim and regional countries not to remain silent in the face of Tel Aviv’s criminal act and to defend the al-Aqsa Mosque.
Israel closed the al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Thursday to Muslim worshippers after a 32-year-old Palestinian MoatazHejazi on October 29 made an attempt on the life of Yehuda Glick, an American-born Israeli settler.
Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian national unity government, has warned that Israel’s move amounts to a “declaration of war.”
The al-Aqsa compound, located in the Israeli-occupied Old City of al-Quds, is a flashpoint holy Islamic site. The location of the compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, is the holiest site in Judaism too. The mosque is Islam’s third holiest site after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina.
Gaza Rallies in Support of Al-Aqsa Mosque
Meanwhile, Palestinian people held a rally in Jabaliya, Northern Gaza, to condemn the violations and occupation of Al-Aqsa Mosque. During the protests, held after Friday prayers, the crowd held posters of the MoatazHijazi who was killed by Israeli police on Wednesday.
PERESS T.V, FNA
R.S