Global Courant 2023-05-21 19:37:22
The visit of Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir comes days after thousands of Jewish nationalists marched through Jerusalem’s Old City.
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has entered the grounds of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and declared that Israel is “in charge”.
The comments during his early Sunday morning visit to the compound came days after groups of Jewish youths clashed with Palestinians and chanted racist slogans during the annual far-right “flag march” through the Old City.
The event, held on “Jerusalem Day,” marking the 1967 capture and annexation of East Jerusalem, an action considered illegal under international law, has sparked violence in recent years, with far-right Israelis shouting provocative slogans and insults, as well as physically assaulting Palestinians and even journalists.
“I am happy to climb the Temple Mount, the most important place for the people of Israel,” said Ben-Gvir during his visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, also known as Al-Haram al-Sharif by Muslims and the Temple Mount by Jews.
In 2021, tensions around Al-Aqsa were followed by an 11-day Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip. Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has repeatedly warned it would respond to what it sees as Jewish incursions into the site, which is under Jordanian control under a longstanding “status quo” regime put in place to contain tensions .
“All the threats from Hamas will not help, we are in charge here in Jerusalem and the whole land of Israel,” said Ben-Gvir, who has visited the compound on several occasions.
Under the status quo regulations, non-Muslims are allowed to visit the site in the heart of the old city, but are not allowed to pray. However, Jewish visitors are increasingly defying the ban, more or less openly.
Increasing anger
Palestinians view resistance to the prayer ban as a provocation and fear that Israel plans to take over the place.
The increased number of ultra-nationalist Jews entering the compound and the frequent storming of the compound by Israeli security forces, including in the prayer room of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, has increased Palestinian anger.
A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Ben-Gvir’s “early hour raid, like thieves, into the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque will not alter reality and impose Israeli sovereignty over it.”
A Hamas spokesman said Israel would bear the consequences of Ben-Gvir’s “vicious attack” on the mosque and called on Palestinians to step up their visits and “stand firmly against all attempts to defile it and make it Jewish.” to make. “
During the 1967 Middle East War, Israel captured Jerusalem’s Old City, which includes Al-Aqsa and the adjacent Wailing Wall, a holy place of worship for Jews.
Israel has since annexed East Jerusalem, in a move not recognized by the international community, and regards the entire city as its eternal and undivided capital. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.
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