9 April 2005	Saturday	29 Safar 1426

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GAZA, April 8: Leading Palestinian militant groups on Friday vowed renewed attacks on Israelis if Jewish ultra-nationalists enter a sensitive Al Quds from which Israeli police intend to bar them this weekend.

The eight factions issued the warning a day after Israel said it would ban non-Muslims from the site, revered by Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and by Jews as the Temple Mount, to prevent far-right Israelis rallying there.

Several hardline lawmakers who had hoped to use their parliamentary status to get around the ban were told they too would be prohibited from visiting the mosque compound.

Police have tightened security at the site amid fears that a rally scheduled for Sunday by thousands of ultra-nationalists seeking to stall Israel’s planned withdrawal from Gaza this summer could provoke violence with Muslims.

In a statement, Palestinian militants said they would abandon a three-month-old de facto truce if “Zionist extremists storm the mosque compound ... Such an act would be a declaration of all-out war and the calm would come to an end”.

Thousands of Palestinians, including masked gunmen, marched in Gaza to back up the militants’ threat.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told reporters he had received assurances from Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz that security forces would prevent any attack on the compound in Al Quds’ walled Old City.

Revava, the far-right group organising the rally, has pledged to go ahead anyway, saying its supporters would get as close to the holy site as possible but would be non-violent.

The factions behind the warning included Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which have spearheaded suicide bombings and shooting attacks during a 4-1/2-year-old revolt. Hamas and Islamic Jihad aim to destroy Israel.—Reuters