Hamas chief arrives in Lebanon for Hezbollah talks amid Al-Aqsa tension

By Wassim Seif El Din

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AA) – Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh arrived in Lebanon on Wednesday amid tension at Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem.

Hamas spokesman in Lebanon Walid Kilani said Haniyeh’s visit aims to follow up on previous meetings between the Palestinian group and Lebanese movement Hezbollah “to coordinate stances and strengthen the resistance against the Israeli enemy.”

Tension rose in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday after Israeli police detained around 350 worshippers from inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex.

A group of Palestinians barricaded themselves inside the Al-Qibli Prayer Hall in the complex after Jewish settlers called for a raid on the mosque. They attempted to prevent police from entering by closing its doors.

Surrounding the Al-Qibli Prayer Hall, Israeli police went up to the roof of the mosque, smashed some of the windows and initially intervened with sound bombs against the worshippers inside. Some of the people in the mosque tried to resist the police by throwing fireworks.

According to the Commission for Palestinian Prisoners Affairs, Israeli police began to release the detainees on the condition that they be removed from Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem’s Old City for a week.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents Islam’s third-holiest site. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar