Palestinians continue street prayer protests

(26 Jul 2017) LEADIN: Prayer protests outside Al-Aqsa Mosque are continuing. Palestinians are refusing to enter the place of worship until Israel removes all recently-installed security measures. STORYLINE: Protests continue close to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Huge crowds estimated to be in the thousands have been turning up day and night to express anger over what they say is Israel's creeping control of the holy site. Israel has removed the metal detectors it had recently installed, but has left surveillance cameras in place. So Palestinians are still refusing to enter the mosque. "We will only enter when the situation is brought back to how it was in the past, before they put up the (metal detector) doors, before they put up the cameras," says protester Raed Saeed. "We cannot go in to pray while we are under surveillance." Israel installed the security measures following a deadly shootout between Palestinian gunmen and the Israeli police on 14 July. Two Israeli policemen and the three attackers were killed in the incident. The metal detectors were removed after Israel and Jordan have reached an agreement over the release of an Israeli security guard who killed a Jordanian citizen in Amman. It is unclear if the two sides agreed on details with regard to Al-Haram al-Sharif compound. And the protest has drawn support from the wider Muslim world. "When the Palestinians refused to go through the doors we stayed with them and I refused to go in just as they did," says a Tunisian tourist who has joined the protest. The crisis has triggered some of the worst Israeli-Palestinian clashes in years. High school student Hamze Maswadeh says the protests are "largely peaceful" but that sometimes the Israeli police "crack down" and fire stun grenades at protesters and force them from the area. Muslims are using prayer as a form of protest. They gather at the compound, mainly near Bab al-Asbat, also known as Lions Gate to worship outside - a pointed demonstration that they do not feel they can pray inside the mosque. Islamic leaders have asked the Waqf authority to conduct a report on the compound and the impact of the Israeli security measures. They will then give a decision on whether entry to the mosque should be resumed. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he will continue to suspend security coordination with Israel until the shrine is returned to how it was before the crisis began. Muslims believe the hilltop compound, which they call the Noble Sanctuary, marks the spot from which Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. It is the third holiest site of Islam and houses the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosques. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...