JERUSALEM, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian Presidency warned Israel on Friday of "dangerous consequences" of closing the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Israeli authorities earlier on Friday evening reopened the mosque for Palestinian worshipers after closing it for a few hours following a stabbing attack near the mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Muslims Property department in the city said in a statement that the dawn prayers will be held on time in the mosque after it had been closed by the Israeli police for several hours in the face of Muslim prayers.
The Palestinian state-run news agency WAFA reported that the Israeli police forced Palestinian worshipers to leave the mosque yard, closed one of its gates, and detained four people.
The report also said that the Israeli police forces prevented worshipers from reaching the mosque for evening prayers inside.
The Israeli closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest site, came after an Israeli-Arab was shot dead near the mosque on alleged attempt of trying to stab an Israeli police officer.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Presidency announced that President Mahmoud Abbas held an emergency meeting on Friday night to follow up the situation at Al-Aqsa Mosque.
"These measures are totally rejected and we hold the Israeli government fully responsible for carrying on with these measures," said a Palestinian Presidency statement.
"Once again, East Jerusalem and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque are a red line, and there is no peace or security without that," Abbas said in a presidential statement published by WAFA.
Jerusalem is one of the final status issues for Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, which had been stalled since 2014 after nine months of U.S.-sponsored talks without progress to resolve decades of conflicts between the two sides.
