Palestinians on Saturday sounded the alarm over growing incitement by Israeli far-right settler groups, accusing them of openly calling for the destruction of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied east Jerusalem.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned an AI-generated video titled “Next Year in Jerusalem,” which has been circulating on extremist Hebrew-language platforms.
The video depicts the bombing of Al-Aqsa Mosque and its replacement with a so-called Third Temple.
In a statement, the ministry denounced the video as “a calculated provocation designed to fuel further attacks on Islamic and Christian holy sites in occupied Jerusalem.”
It said Israel’s far-right leadership feels “emboldened to advance its Judaization and colonial agenda amid weak international reactions to its ongoing genocidal crimes, particularly in Gaza.”
The ministry urged the international community and U.N. bodies to treat the incitement seriously and pursue legal measures under international law to halt Israel’s unilateral actions against Palestinians.
While Israeli officials say the status quo at Al-Aqsa is being maintained, the Islamic Waqf in Jerusalem has rejected this claim.
The status quo refers to the pre-1967 arrangement under which the Waqf oversees the site and only Muslims are allowed to pray there.
On Monday, the Waqf said repeated violations of the site’s sanctity mark “an unprecedented breach of its historical, religious and legal status as a Muslim site reserved solely for Muslim worship.”
Far-right groups had earlier called for mass incursions into the Al-Aqsa compound during the Jewish Passover holiday, which began last Sunday.
Since 2003, Israeli authorities have allowed settlers into the compound nearly every day.
Israel occupied east Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and unilaterally annexed the city in 1980 — a move not recognized by the international community.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third-holiest site in Islam. Jews refer to the area as the Temple Mount, believing it was the location of two ancient Jewish temples.
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