Installing three cameras inside the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque
The occupation police installed three surveillance cameras inside the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque. An official source in the Islamic Awqaf explained that the police installed three surveillance cameras on Sunday around 5 p.m. on the top of the police center located on the surface of the mosque of the Dome of the Rock noting that this is the first time cameras are installed in Al-Aqsa since the occupation of Jerusalem in 1967. He also pointed out that the occupation installed more than 400 surveillance cameras in the old city of Jerusalem and at the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque from the outside. The Islamic Awqaf requested the “chief of police” in Jerusalem in an urgent letter to immediately remove those cameras. Al-Awqaf condemned the installation of surveillance cameras inside Al-Aqsa which is a restriction of the freedom of worship and movement in the Mosque and considered it a serious precedent. At the beginning of last year, the occupation had installed a camera at the outside of Dung Gate which also covers wide areas of Al-Aqsa Mosque (a roofed area in Al-Qibali Mosque, Al-Ka’s and Al-Marwani prayer areas). Al-Aqsa Foundation explained that two out of the three installed cameras are directed towards the Mosque of the Dome of the Rock; east and west sides, and also covers the northern part of the Dome of the Rock which is an area designed for women to pray. The third camera is facing the opposite side, towards King Faisal Gate, and covers the northern side of Al-Aqsa Mosque which is the area where most of the settlers’ break-ins are confronted by Al-Aqsa guards.
