RAMALLAH
Israeli police late Tuesday arrested two leaders of the Islamic Movement in Israel.
Movement spokesman Zahi Njeidat told Anadolu Agency that deputy group leader Sheikh Kamal Khatib and senior group member Sheikh Ali Abu Sheikha had been arrested on charges of "involvement in rioting" in the Aqsa Mosque compound in the city of Al-Quds (Jerusalem).
The two men are set to appear before an Israeli court later on Wednesday where they will face questioning, he added.
Njeidat accused Israeli authorities of preparing to ban the two men from entering Jerusalem, as they recently did to movement leader Raed Salah.
Israeli police arrested Salah earlier this month on charges of "incitement" against Israel.
The Jerusalem Magistrate Court later ordered Salah released on bail set at 50,000 shekels on condition that he remain at least 30 km from the city for six months.
Njeidat said the latest arrests aimed to "help the Israeli occupation tighten its grip on Al-Aqsa Mosque by hunting down every advocate of this righteous cause," referring to the movement's efforts to defend the iconic mosque from increasingly frequent violations by extremist Jewish settlers and Israeli police.
The Islamic Movement in Israel has called on Palestinians to converge on Al-Aqsa to counter plans by Jewish settlers to mark the Jewish holidays by storming the mosque's precincts.
Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest site, has recently been the target of repeated violations by Jewish settlers, distressing Palestinian Muslims.
The Knesset (Israel's parliament) had earlier called for opening the mosque compound to Jews on all Jewish holidays.
Jews refer to Al-Aqsa as the "Temple Mount," claiming the area had been the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
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