Israel 'playing with fire' by crossing Jerusalem 'red line': Arab League chief

Jerusalem [Israel], July 23 (ANI): The Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul-Ghiet has said that Israel is "playing with fire" with the new security measures put in place at the Temple Mount compound in the Old City of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a "red line," Xinhua quoted chief Ahmed Abul Gheit, as saying, adding that "no Arab or Muslim will accept violations" against the city's holy sites and by by-passing Jerusalem, Israel is igniting a big crisis. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to keep the metal detectors after a July 14 terror attack in which three armed Arab-Israelis emerged from the holy site and shot dead two police officers standing at the Lions Gate, an access point to the compound. At least four Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces since then, while three Israelis were also killed in an alleged stabbing attack inside their home in a settlement in the occupied West Bank. Abul Gheit accused Israel Government of "adventurism" and said its moves could trigger a "crisis with the Arab and Muslim world." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday warned of intervention by the Muslim international community over the metal detectors and ensuing clashes between Palestinian protestors and the Israeli troops. Erdogan urged Israel to act in accordance with international law and "human values" while avoiding use of violence and said the Muslim world will not remain silent over what he called "violations" at the temple compound. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday that he would be cutting all contacts with Israelis until calm was restored. (ANI)