Hamas has urged Arabs in Jerusalem to “defend” the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount and fight Jerusalem police who are preventing Muslim men under the age of 50 from entering the compound in the wake of increasing violence.
"Harming al-Aqsa will blow up in the face of the Zionist aggression,” according to statement issued by Hamas, the de facto authority in the Gaza region. Palestinian Authority media have alleged that Jews are building tunnels under the Temple Mount in order to cause it to collapse.