By Ibrahim Husseini-Jerusalem.
The Israeli police blocked hundreds of Palestinian worshipers from entering the al-Aqsa Mosque on Thursday, 27 July, as it escorted Jewish settlers and two Israeli ministers, including Itamar Ben-Gvir, into the compound.
The provocative entry of the far-right minister into the Muslim holy site drew swift condemnations from Muslim worshippers, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the al-Awqaf authority.
Over 2,100 illegal Jewish settlers, according to the al-Awqaf authority, intruded into the al-Aqsa and performed Talmudic rituals.
“We call on the Islamic Umma and the international community to end their silence and appeasement and to mount effective action to protect the al-Aqsa before it’s late, ” said a statement released Thursday afternoon.
The relatively high number of Jewish settlers intruding into the al-Aqsa is attributed to Tisha Be’av, which according to Jewish tradition, is the annual marking of the destruction of the first and second temples and other tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people.
Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf, from Ben-Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party, and Likud MK Amit Halevi were among the intruders.
“This place – this is the most important place for the people of Israel – where we have to return to show our governance”, Ben-Gvir said.
#BREAKING: #SaudiArabia condemns and denounces the storming of the courtyard of #AlAqsa Mosque by the #Israeli Minister of National Security and a group of settlers pic.twitter.com/86nLKTGk4i
— Saudi Gazette (@Saudi_Gazette) July 27, 2023
Palestinians often warn that Israel intends to split the holy site into areas Jews for Muslims.
Following the 1967 war, Israel took possession of Bab al-Maghareba or Morrocon Gate and designated it for non-Muslim visitors.
In recent years, ever-increasing interferences from the Israeli police have hampered routine restoration works at the site.
Jordan condemned what it termed as the “storming” by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir of Jerusalem’s Aqsa mosque, warning of its dangerous consequences.
“The move by an Israeli minister to storm the Holy Al Aqsa mosque and violating its sanctity and the practices by (Jewish) extremists is a provocative act and a flagrant violation of international law,” said a foreign ministry spokesman.
Local eyewitnesses told The New Arab that some young men gathered near the fence separating Israel, raised Palestinian flags, and set used rubber tires on fire.
READ: Palestinians in Gaza protest against latest Israeli storming of the Al-Aqsa compound
Turkey’s foreign ministry strongly condemned Ben-Gvir’s “provocative storming” to the Al-Aqsa. “
“We call on Israeli authorities to take necessary measures in a serious manner to restrain these provocations which violate the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque and its historical status based on the international law, and to prevent escalation of the tension”, the statement said.
The site is known to Jews as the Temple Mount and is considered Judaism’s most sacred site. Some hardline religious-nationalist Israelis have expressed a desire to build a Jewish temple on the ruins of the Dome of the Rock.
Source: The New Arab. 28 July 2023
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