CAIRO, - An Egyptian MP called on Sunday for the storming of Israeli embassies around the world if Israelis entered occupied Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound.
Subhi Saleh, an MP affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest but banned opposition group, said Israeli embassies "in every country" should be stormed if Israelis enter the site.
"Embassies have diplomatic immunity but our holy places have divine immunity, so if they enter Al-Aqsa let us enter their embassies," he said during a heated meeting of his parliamentary bloc.
Tensions over the compound turned violent on September 27 when Palestinians hurled rocks at a group of visitors whom they suspected of being rightwing Jewish extremists.
Israel a week ago denied access to the site to non-Muslim visitors and to Muslim males under the age of 50. But it reopened the compound on Sunday.
In September 2000, the second Palestinian uprising, or intifada, erupted after Ariel Sharon, a rightwing politician who went on to become Israel's prime minister, visited the site.
Palestinian East Jerusalem has been under illegal Israeli occupation since 1967.
Under international law, neither East nor West Jerusalem is considered Israel's capital. Tel Aviv is recognised as Israel's capital, pending a negotiated settlement with the Palestinians.
East Jerusalem is considered by the international community to be illegally occupied by Israel, in contravention of several binding UN Security Council Resolutions.
In these resolutions, the United Nations Security Council has also called for no measures to be taken to change the status of Jerusalem until a final settlement is reached between the sides.
Declaring Jerusalem as Israel's capital is an attempt to change this status, and is thus a violation of these Security Council resolutions.
Egyptians protest at Algeria's Cairo embassy