Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, head of the Supreme Muslim Council and a preacher at Al-Aqsa Mosque, argued that there is no basis to the claim of National Security MInister Itamar Ben Gvir that Jews have a right to Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Muslim clerics state that Al-Aqsa Mosque includes the entire area of the Temple Mount, and also that the area around the mosque - meaning the entire Land of Israel - is Islamic holy land.
Responding to Ben Gvir’s remarks on his desire to build a synagogue on the Temple Mount in order to create equality between Muslims and Jews in terms of religious worship there, Sabri said that Ben Gvir failed to implement his plans and now he is striving to blow up the situation to show that he is acting on the issue.
Sabri held the Israeli government responsible for Ben Gvir’s remarks, and stressed that Al-Aqsa Mosque is an Islamic site that non-Muslims are forbidden to approach.
The Israeli plans which were mentioned are "imaginary", since Al-Aqsa Mosque will continue to exist as a holy site for Muslims only, he stated.
The Hamas organization issued a statement calling the desire of Ben Gvir "the terrorist" to build a synagogue on the Temple Mount a "dangerous announcement" that reflects the Israeli government's quest to Judaize the site and take over it.
Hamas called on Palestinian Arabs to come to Al-Aqsa Mosque, stay there and stop Israel's plans. It also called on the “resistance organizations” in Judea and Samaria to escalate the confrontations with the "criminal enemy and his hordes of settlers".
Sabri has in the past condemned remarks by Ben Gvir regarding Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, calling them "racist and inappropriate".
Sabri regularly accuses Israel of trying to “Judaize” the Temple Mount area. Several years ago, he accused "extremist" Jewish organizations of waging a legal battle aimed at achieving Israeli sovereignty in the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
In 2014, he declared that Al-Aqsa was a “red line” for Arabs, adding, “We will not give up even one grain of earth (at the Al-Aqsa Mosque), since the Jews have no connection to it whatsoever.”