Palestinians condemn Israeli cabinet meeting in Al-Aqsa tunnels

JERUSALEM, Palestine – Palestinians on Sunday condemned an Israeli cabinet meeting that took place in Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.

The weekly meeting of the Israeli Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was held in one of the tunnels near the Western Wall of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Palestinian Authority warned that the Israeli move would encourage further settlement projects. The move will also jeopardize the Palestinian presence in the city of Jerusalem.

Ahmed al-Ruwaidi, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told the state-run Wafa news agency that the Israeli government wants to strengthen its sovereignty in East Jerusalem.

“The Israeli occupation government is seeking to reinforce its sovereignty in East Jerusalem, and to present a false narrative at the expense of the historical reality of the region, whose roots are Islamic, Christian, Palestinian and Arab,” Ruwaidi, told the news agency. 

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said all Israeli actions and policies in Jerusalem are invalid and illegitimate.

Hamas, the resistance group that rules the Gaza Strip, called the Israeli cabinet meeting a “dangerous escalation.”

In 1996, Palestinians discovered that Israel had secretly dug a tunnel leading to the ancient Al-Buraq, or Western Wall.

The incident sparked clashes with Palestinians that left 63 people dead and 600 injured.

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