Islam in Jerusalem

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a phone conversation with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over a recent escalation at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

In a phone call with his Israeli counterpart, Erdoğan expressed sadness over casualties at the incident while urging that restrictions on Muslims should be removed.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discussed with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a recent escalation at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem in a phone call on July 20. 

Erdoğan stressed that it was unacceptable that there were restrictions at the entrance of the mosque, also known as Haram al-Sharif, state-run Anadolu Agency quoted anonymous presidential sources as saying. 

Israel reopened an ultra-sensitive holy site on July 16 closed after an attack that killed two policemen, but Muslim worshippers were refusing to enter due to new security measures including metal detectors and cameras.

Crowds chanted "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) as a number of initial visitors entered Jerusalem's Haram al-Sharif compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.

Three gunmen opened fire at police near Jerusalem's holiest site on July 14, wounding three Israelis, two of them critically, before the attackers were killed by security forces, Israeli police said.
   

Two Israeli television news programs were briefly hacked, with images promoting Islam and a message suggesting a recent wave of fires was divine retribution shown in their place, reports said on Nov. 30.

UNESCO has officially adopted the resolution on the preservation of Palestinian cultural heritage in East Jerusalem which caused angry protests on the part of Israel, reported BNR.

The project on the resolution approved last week caused a harsh reaction on the part of Israel which stated that it is freezing its cooperation with the cultural organisation.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Oct. 24 that Israel had agreed on steps to calm tensions over Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque, at the centre of Palestinian unrest, including 24-hour security cameras.

New clashes broke out on Sept. 28 morning between Israeli police and Palestinians at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound, an AFP journalist said, with further trouble feared in the week ahead as Jews celebrate the Sukkot holiday.

Clashes broke out between masked Palestinians and Israeli security forces at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Sept. 27, the last day of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, police said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sept.16 announced a toughening of the penalties for stone throwers following a third day of clashes in and around Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound.