Haneya urges OIC to convene Jerusalem committee

Deposed Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haneya Monday called on the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to convene its al-Quds (Jerusalem) committee urgently.

Haneya's call were made a day after nearly a dozen of Palestinians were wounded in clashes with Jewish worshipers who broke into the yard of al-Aqsa mosque, a sensitive Muslim holy site in the Old City of Jerusalem.

In a statement sent to the press, Haneya urged Moroccan King Mohammed VI, the secretary-general of al-Quds committee, to call for an urgent meeting "and to made decisions amounting to the a responsible level."

"The harsh attack on al-Aqsa mosque and al-Quds needs clear Arab and Islamic decisions with mechanisms for implementation to protect the shrine and the holy city," Haneya said.

The yard in the Old City contains the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest Muslim shrine in the world.

The Palestinians put Jerusalem at the center of stalled negotiations with Israel and demand the eastern part of the city as the capital of their future statehood.

For the second day, Hamas is staging rallies and demonstration in the Gaza Strip to protest the incidents in the Old City.