Occupied JERUSALEM: Israel reopened Al Haram Al Sharif yesterday closed after an attack that killed two policemen, but Muslim worshippers were refusing to enter due to new security measures including metal detectors and cameras.

The Muslim Waqf Department in occupied East Jerusalem, which oversees Al Haram Al Sharif, refused to unlock the gates of the shrine yesterday in protest at the Israeli installation of metal detectors at entrances to the holy site.

The site includes the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

Shaikh Omar Al Kiswani, Al Aqsa Mosque director, condemned the action, which he said was aimed at taking full control of the holy shrine.

“The move to install these gates is an Israeli dream come true,” he told Gulf News. He said it violated the status quo agreement under which Jews do not have sovereignty over the holy site, and are allowed to visit it but not to pray there.

A call to prayer rang out from Al Aqsa, but Muslim worshippers held midday prayers outside the site in protest at the new security measures.

Under the Israeli security plan at Al Haram Al Sharif, only two of the nine gates would be reopened for Muslim worshippers, and only Jerusalemites would initially be allowed to enter.

Al Kiswani said the illegal metal-detection gates would slow the movement of Muslim worshippers and increase tensions at the holy site.

Dozens of worshippers gathered to pray at an entrance to Al Haram Al Sharif near the entry to the Old City.

“We reject the changes imposed by the Israeli government,” Al Kiswani, Al Aqsa director, told reporters outside.

“We will not enter through these metal detectors.”

Some women wailed and cried while telling people not to enter.

Three Palestinians of 1948 areas opened fire on Israeli police Friday in occupied Jerusalem’s Old City before fleeing to Al Haram Al Sharif, where they were shot dead by security forces.

Israeli authorities said the gunmen had come from the holy site to carry out the attack.

Israel took the highly unusual decision of closing the Al Haram Al Sharif for Friday prayers, triggering anger from Muslims and Jordan, the holy site’s custodian.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of the security measures late Saturday before departing for a trip to Paris.

“This evening I held a discussion with the top security leadership and I instructed that metal detectors be placed at the entrance gates,” he said.

“We will also install security cameras on poles outside the [Al Haram Al Sharif] Temple Mount but which give almost complete control over what goes on there.”

Netanyahu spoke by phone with Jordan’s King Abdullah on Saturday night, a statement from Amman said.

Abdullah condemned the attack, but also called on Netanyahu to reopen the Al Haram Al Sharif and stressed the need to “avoid any escalation at the site”.

Proposals to change security measures at the compound have sparked controversy in the past.

A plan developed in 2015 between Israel and Jordan to install cameras at the site itself fell apart amid disagreement over how they would be operated.

The Al Haram Al Sharif is central to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Palestinians fearing Israel may one day seek to assert further control over it.

It is located in East Jerusalem, occupied by Israel in 1967 and later annexed in a move never recognised by the international community.

It is considered the third holiest site in Islam and the most sacred for Jews.

Jews are allowed to visit but not pray there to avoid provoking tensions.