Israel removes metal detectors from al-Aqsa compound
Israel has decided to remove metal detectors it had placed at the entrance to al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied East Jerusalem and replace them with more advanced surveillance cameras; Aljazeera reported.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet voted to remove the metal detector gates after a meeting lasting several hours convening for a second time on Monday.
Sheikh Najeh Bakirat, the director of al-Aqsa Mosque, said overnight on Tueday that the move does not fullfil the demands of the Muslim worshippers as the security cameras are being kept.
Sheikh Raed Saleh, an al-Aqsa official, said that 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."
At least five Palestinians have been killed and hundreds injured in clashes sparked by the new security measures.
Three Israelis were also killed when a Palestinian sneaked into a house in a West Bank settlement and stabbed them.
On Friday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbasannounced that the Palestinian leadership will freeze all contact with Israel.
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