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In the wake of a renewed Israeli assault on al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, Palestinian Knesset Member Haneen Zoabi visited Jerusalem along with other Palestinian figures who checked the damage and met with the locals.

Zoabi told al-Araby al-Jadeed on the sidelines of a visit she and a number of Arab MKs from the Joint Arab List made to al-Aqsa on Tuesday: "The visit is a genuine expression of the sentiments of nearly two million Palestinians in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948, who see the assault on their on their holy sites in Jerusalem as a direct assault on them".

Zoabi said these assaults would not have taken place were it not for the racism in Israel all the way up in its official institutions, government, and Knesset.

Zoabi said these institutions are a fertile ground for Israeli extremists to implement their plans against al-Aqsa and Palestinians in general.

The delegation from the Joint Arab List met with a number of officials from the Islamic Endowments Trust at al-Aqsa.

The head of the Islamic Endowments Abdul-Azim Salhab gave the delegation an update on recent developments at the mosque, which was raided by occupation forces, describing what happened as a very serious development.

Salhab said there has been a fundamental shift in Israel’s policy of intrusions into the mosque, following the participation of Israeli Minister of Agriculture Uri Ariel in one of the raids, leading a group of settlers into the mosque.

He added that the Israeli government is behind everything that is happening, and not some fringe groups as Israel claims.

Salhab stressed that the visit by the Joint Arab List delegation is an extremely important message of solidarity, emphasising the unity of the Palestinian people. The Islamic Endowments official called for more sit-ins at al-Aqsa.

The attack on al-Aqsa mosque is only part of Israel's expansionist policies in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Israeli right-wing government's pro-settlement agenda legalises uprooting Palestinian houses and trees for the sake of illegal settlement expansion.

Defending Islam's third holiest site

In a speech, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine Mohammed Hussein called on Palestinian citizens to go to al-Aqsa mosque and remain there, because their presence there provokes the occupation.

The mufti said the Palestinians should go to the mosque every day to defend it against the encroachment by extremist Jewish groups.

The mufti called for Israeli officials to be prosecuted for their role in the crimes committed by settlers against al-Aqsa and the worshippers there.

For his part, Ayman Odeh, head of the Arab List at the Knesset, held the government of Binyamin Netanyahu responsible for what happened at the mosque.

Odeh warned of the repercussions for the assault on Jerusalem and its holy sites by racists who he said are trying to ignite the entire region.

Odeh also warned against attempts to portray the conflict as a religious one. He said the conflict is not between Muslims and Jews, or between one religion and another, stressing that Jerusalem is the heart of Palestine without which it can have no life.

The delegation inspected the damage to al-Aqsa mosque from the incursion by the Israeli forces.

During their visit, they clashed with a number of settlers protected by the Israeli police, who tried to obstruct the delegation.