The Palestinian group issued a statement Friday on the 57th anniversary of a 1969 arson attack on the holy site, and days after Israeli police allowed Jewish prayer books to be brought into the mosque compound.

“The [Israeli] occupation’s plans will not succeed in Judaizing the Al-Aqsa Mosque, changing its characteristics, erasing its identity, dividing it temporally or spatially, or legitimizing Talmudic rituals in its courtyards,” Hamas said.

The group added that Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s decision to allow Jewish prayer books into the mosque compound and permit organized public prayers in its courtyards represented an “escalatory step” against the site’s “sanctity and historic Islamic identity.”

Last week, Israeli police allowed a group of religious Jews to bring prayer books into the mosque compound, after allowing printed prayer sheets to be brought in since January, according to Israeli reports.

Ben-Gvir later confirmed the move.

Israeli police, meanwhile, say the flashpoint site is managed according to political-level directives, procedures and field assessments.

In recent years, longstanding restrictions that had barred Jews from performing prayers or bringing religious data-x-items into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound have been gradually eased.

In late July, hundreds of religious Jews performed public prayers inside the mosque compound in Ben-Gvir’s presence.

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Hamas said the 1969 arson attack represented a “dangerous milestone in the ongoing targeting of Jerusalem, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and its Islamic identity.”

“What Al-Aqsa is witnessing today — including incursions, Talmudic rituals and attempts to impose new realities in its courtyards — is an extension of that crime,” it added.

The group called on Palestinians in al-Quds and the occupied West Bank to “bolster their presence and steadfastness at Al-Aqsa and confront the occupation’s plans to impose new realities there.”

It also urged Arab and Muslim countries, leaders, peoples and organizations to “shoulder their historic responsibilities toward al-Quds and Al-Aqsa,” unite in their efforts to stop Israeli violations, and support Palestinians in the city.

In a separate statement, the Palestinian National Council said the 1969 Al-Aqsa arson attack was “not an isolated individual act,” but rather an “early link in a systematic project targeting the mosque and al-Quds.”

The council warned against continued Israeli calls to change the mosque’s historic and legal status, saying extremist Jewish groups — led by so-called “Temple groups” — continued to incite raids on the mosque and seek to impose temporal and spatial divisions on the mosque compound.

The council added that attacks on Islamic and Christian holy sites in al-Quds and the Palestinian territories are part of a broader effort to target the city’s religious diversity and Palestinian identity.

​​​​​​​The Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world’s third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the “Temple Mount,” claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

On Aug. 21, 1969, Dennis Michael Rohan, an Australian national, set fire to the mosque’s Al-Qibli prayer hall, destroying Saladin’s pulpit and parts of the hall’s roof and causing extensive damage.

The incident was followed by the first Islamic summit in Rabat, Morocco, on Sept. 25, 1969, which led to the establishment of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, now known as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Source: Middle East Monitor