Palestinians criticize Temple Mount surveillance plan

Palestinian officials are opposing a plan to install 24-hour surveillance cameras on the Temple Mount.

Several Palestinian leaders criticized the proposal on Monday, Bloomberg News and Reuters reported.

“The placement of cameras in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is not only a violation of the status quo; it also enables Israel to exercise security control and provides it with more enhanced means of surveillance,” Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi said in a statement, according to Bloomberg. “Israel, as it has repeatedly done, will use it against the Palestinians and not against extremist Jewish settlers or Israeli officials.”

Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said on Voice of Palestine radio that the plan was “a new trap,” according to Reuters. Maliki accused Israel of planning to use the footage to arrest Muslim worshippers that it believes are “inciting” against it.”

The plan, which was announced by the United States on Saturday with support from Israel and Jordan, aims to deter violence at the site, which is holy to both Jews and Muslims. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry described the plan proposed by Jordan as a “game-changer.”