Middle East Monitor / April 27, 2023
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh insisted on Wednesday that Bab al-Rahma Mosque is an integral part of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Noble Sanctuary compound.
He made his comment during his weekly cabinet meeting on Wednesday in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah after a human rights group warned that the Israeli occupation authorities plan to turn the mosque into a synagogue.
“No one except us has the right to Bab al-Rahma Mosque,” said Shtayyeh. He condemned the repeated Israeli raids at the holy site, during which the contents have been damaged and stolen. “It is essential to stop Israeli raids of Al-Aqsa Mosque, not only during the month of Ramadan, but throughout the whole year.”
The PA prime minister also called for Israel to stop its publicized raids on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and all other Christian sites in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Since the end of Ramadan last weekend, the Israeli occupation police have already raided Bab al-Rahma Mosque several times, damaging its contents and stealing its furniture. They cut the electricity supplies to the Islamic holy site.
Shtayyeh also took the opportunity to call for Israel to lift the siege imposed on Jericho since Saturday and stop its repeated raids of Jericho’s neighbourhood of Aqabat Jaber.
