Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has called on Muslims to advance on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on Friday from where he called "anywhere in the land of Palestine". Haniyeh said, "I call upon the masses of our people in Al-Quds [Arabic-based on Hebrew- for Jerusalem -ed.], the (West) Bank and the land that has been occupied since 1948 to come to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and gather and hold there, protect it and stand as a strong building in order to thwart the occupation," Haniya said.
Commenting on Tuesday rioting on the Temple Mount, Haniyeh claimed that Israel closed the Gate of Mercy and institutions connected to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in order to impose facts on the ground in preparation for the division of the Temple Mount between Muslims and Jews as part of a gradual takeover of the site. He called on the Palestinian resistance organizations to defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque "in all possible ways and means."