Go to by Israel’s Nationwide Safety Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir comes days after hundreds of Jewish nationalists marched by way of Jerusalem’s Outdated Metropolis.
Israel’s far-right Nationwide Safety Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem and declared Israel was “in cost”, drawing condemnation from Palestinians after months of escalating stress and violence.
The feedback throughout his early morning go to on Sunday to the compound got here days after teams of Jewish youths scuffled with Palestinians and chanted racist slogans in the course of the annual far-right “flag march” by way of the Outdated Metropolis.
The occasion, held on “Jerusalem Day”, which marks the 1967 seize and annexation of East Jerusalem, a transfer thought of unlawful underneath worldwide regulation, has led to violence in recent times, as far-right Israelis shout provocative slogans and insults, in addition to bodily assault Palestinians and even journalists.
“I’m pleased to ascend the Temple Mount, crucial place for the folks of Israel,” Ben-Gvir stated throughout his go to to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, also called Al-Haram al-Sharif by Muslims and the Temple Mount by Jews.
In 2021, tensions round Al-Aqsa had been adopted by an 11-day Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip. Hamas, which controls the Strip, has warned repeatedly that it might react to what it sees as Jewish incursions on the location, which stands in Jordanian custodianship underneath a long-standing “establishment” association put in place to include tensions.
“All of the threats from Hamas won’t assist, we’re in cost right here in Jerusalem and the entire land of Israel,” stated Ben-Gvir, who has repeatedly visited the compound.
Beneath the established order preparations, non-Muslims might go to the location within the coronary heart of the Outdated Metropolis however aren’t allowed to wish. Nonetheless, Jewish guests have been more and more defying the ban, roughly overtly.
Rising anger
Palestinians contemplate defiance of the ban on prayer as a provocation and concern that Israel intends to take over the location.
The elevated variety of ultranationalist Jews coming into the compound, and the frequent storming of the location by Israeli safety forces, together with contained in the prayer corridor of Al-Aqsa Mosque, has elevated Palestinian anger.
A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stated Ben-Gvir’s “incursion at an early hour, like thieves, into the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards won’t change the fact and won’t impose Israeli sovereignty over it”.
A Hamas spokesman stated Israel would bear the results for Ben-Gvir’s “savage assault” on the mosque and it known as on Palestinians to step up their visits and “stand as a rampart within the face of all makes an attempt to defile it and make it Jewish.”
Israel captured the Outdated Metropolis of Jerusalem, which incorporates Al-Aqsa and the adjoining Western Wall, a sacred place of prayer for Jews, in the course of the 1967 Center Jap conflict.
Israel has since annexed East Jerusalem, in a transfer not recognised by the worldwide neighborhood, and regards the complete metropolis as its everlasting and undivided capital. Palestinians need East Jerusalem because the capital of a future state.
