‘Extremist’ march at Al Aqsa Mosque aborted after police intervention

The “extremist” march at Al Aqsa Mosque complex in Jerusalem on Thursday evening was aborted after police asked participants to leave.

According to a police spokesperson, given the racist chants and protestors disobeying police, it was decided not to allow the continuation of the protest "to prevent friction and maintain public order in the place."

"The Israel Police will continue to allow freedom of expression and protest within the limits of the law, but will not allow the violation of public order contrary to the law," the spokesperson said.

A massive deployment of police officers was sent to the Damascus Gate ahead of the march.

Israelis were chanting slogans such as “Death to Arabs”, “We Must build the Third Temple” and “The Third Temple (Al Aqsa Mosque) is ours!”

According to MEE reporter Faiz Abu Rmeleh, they were also shouting insults at the Prophet Mohammad and calling for the Islamic Waqf to be expelled.

Police confiscated banners at the mosque and tried to remove signs with inflammatory language, leading to some minor clashes. One protestor was detained.

Some banners showed statements like “A bullet in the head of every terrorist” and “We demand full sovereignty over the Temple Mount“.

Earlier this week, Israeli authorities gave permission to extremist settler groups to hold a march at Al Aqsa Mosque complex in Jerusalem on Thursday evening, calling for an end to the administration of the site by the Waqf, the Islamic trust responsible for its management.

Earlier on Thursday, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry condemned “in the strongest terms” the demonstration “of extremists”.

In a statement, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote that it “considers this a serious provocation of feelings and a blatant attack on the rights of the Palestinian people and the historical Hashemite custodianship of the holy sites in occupied Jerusalem”.