Israel removes metal detectors from al-Aqsa

International Desk: Israel has decided to remove metal detectors from the entrance to al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam's third holiest site, in the occupied East Jerusalem.

However, the authority will replace them with more advanced surveillance cameras there.

The decision came in a cabinet meeting lasting several hours convening for a second time on Monday.

Israel installed metal detectors and security cameras after gunmen shot dead two Israeli guards near al-Aqsa mosque on July 14.

Sheikh Najeh Bakirat, the director of al-Aqsa Mosque, said the move does not fullfil the demands of the Muslim worshippers as the security cameras are being kept.

Meanwhile Sheikh Raed Saleh, an al-Aqsa official, said the Palestinians will "never accept the current status, unless everything that was added after July 14 was removed".

"The picture until this moment is not clear, they are doing it in the middle of night, in the cover of darkness, like bats. God knows what we are going to wake up the next morning," he added.

Source: Agencies
 

risingbd/Dhaka/July 25, 201/A K Azad