JERUSALEM

A Palestinian official accused Israel on Thursday of launching an unprecedented escalation against the Palestinian presence in occupied East Jerusalem.

Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Fadi Al-Hadmi said Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem are "facing an open war at all aspects of life" launched by Israel.

"No one single day passes without an Israeli decision or violation against the city and its residents, the last was a decision by an Israeli court to allow Jewish extremist groups to perform religious rituals inside Al-Aqsa Mosque complex," Al-Hadmi said in a statement.

He added the decision is a "dangerous and unprecedented development as the Israeli police turns a blind eye on extremist Jews performing Jewish rituals while storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex along with the increase in the numbers of (Israeli settlers) breaking into the Mosque."

Jerusalem Magistrates Court Judge Bilha Yahalom said Wednesday that silent prayers by Jews at the complex cannot be considered a “criminal act.”

That ruling is the first by an Israeli court in support of Jewish prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Recently, Israeli settlers began to perform silent prayers during visits to the site.

Al-Hadmi called on Arab and Islamic countries to stand against Israeli assaults and violations against Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

He said the Israeli judge's decision also coincides with approvals by the Israeli-run Jerusalem municipality to build thousands of settlement units on lands of the abandoned Jerusalem International Airport in Qalandia in occupied East Jerusalem.

Al-Hadmi stressed that Israeli measures are aimed at isolating East Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings via a belt of Israeli settlements.

Israeli settlers usually storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex every morning and afternoon through the Al-Mughrabi Gate, southwest of the mosque.

Israeli police began allowing settler incursions in 2003, despite repeated condemnations from the Islamic Endowment Department.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980, a move never recognized by the international community.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara