REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesian lawmaker Rofi' Munawar has condemned Israel for closing Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and denying Palestinian Muslims from praying in the third holiest site in Islam.

The measures are violations of human rights and are extreme, Munawar, deputy chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Board (BKSAP) of the House of Representatives (DPR), said in a press statement here on Monday.

"Israel must revoke the policy that clearly violates religious and sovereignty norms. This is not the first time. They had also restricted Muslim worshipers from praying in Al-Aqsa during Ramadan fasting month," he stated.

Israel has frequently violated UN resolutions and is never imposed any sanctions, he added.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera on Monday reported that Al-Aqsa Mosque officials have rejected new security measures put in place by Israel as it reopened the holy site following a deadly gun battle that prompted a two-day closure.

Muslim religious authorities, who oversee the compound, have refused to pray there on Sunday after Israeli authorities installed metal detectors and additional closed-circuit television cameras.

"The closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the occupation in itself, and the prevention of the call for prayers are all unfair and unjust and constitute a violation of the United Nations resolutions and the international agreements," Omar Kiswani, director of the al-Aqsa Mosque, told reporters outside the site.

"We hold the Israeli government responsible for the changes they have made in the Al-Aqsa Mosque and taking its control away from us. We will stay outside the mosque until we get it back the way it was taken from us," he was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera.

Last May 2, the UN Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) passed a resolution calling Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem "null and void," and called on Israel to cancel any "legislative and administrative measures and actions" taken to "alter the character and status" of the city.

Calling Israel the "occupying power," the resolution demanded that Israel halt "persistent excavations, tunneling, works, and projects in East Jerusalem."

The city's Al-Aqsa mosque compound has long been the target of Israeli extremist groups whose declared aim was to destroy the existing Muslim holy sites and replace them with a Jewish temple, under the guise of "archaeological" excavations. 

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