2024-03-11 17:35:40
Analysts warned today, on the eve of Ramadan, that “Hamas” will cause violence on the Temple Mount during the holy month for Muslims, reported the Israeli news agency TPS, quoted by BTA.
“Hamas wants ‘internal’ forces to join its fight,” Brigadier General (retd) Amir Avivi told TPS, referring to Israel’s Arab community.
“When the attack began on October 7, the group believed that its success would immediately draw Israeli Arabs and the Arab residents of Judea and Samaria into the war,” said Avivi, founder and chairman of the Israel Defense and Security Forum. “Nobody joined them, Hamas was left alone. Now Hamas is trying to motivate them to join it by putting pressure on the Al-Aqsa Mosque issue.”
Israeli security forces are increasing their presence in Jerusalem, but the government is not imposing new restrictions on access to the Temple Mount. Instead, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed police to allow an identical number of pilgrims to the holy site as in previous years.
“The probability of terrorist attacks is high, so the main question is – how to preserve the possible peace. The State of Israel must act with the method of carrot and stick: to invest significantly in strengthening security to prevent disturbances, and on the other hand, for balance to leave the freedom of worship on the Temple Mount to create a controlled reality,” Avivi said.
Hopes for a ceasefire before Ramadan were dashed when talks in Cairo broke down on Friday.
“At this stage, Hamas is hardening its positions as if it is not interested in a deal, but is seeking to set the region on fire during Ramadan at the expense of the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip,” Mossad said in a statement.
In a video message posted Friday on the terrorist group’s Telegram channel, Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida called Ramadan “the month of victory, the month of jihad” and called on Palestinians and Arab citizens of Israel to march en masse to Jerusalem to “protect” the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Palestinian terrorist attacks traditionally increase before and during Ramadan.
Arnon Segal, a long-time Israeli journalist and Temple Mount researcher, expressed dismay at how the decision not to impose some restrictions would be received by Hamas.
“We give the neighborhood bully what he wants in exchange for peace, but why does the bully think that in this case peace pays off?” the researcher told TPS. “The State of Israel allowed the Temple Mount to become a small Palestinian state, so now Israel’s enemies are trying to expand the conflict and inflame it,” he added.
Segal, author of the book titled Habait, which can be translated as Temple or Home, is a frequent visitor to the holy site.
“The day before the bloody attack on October 7, a sign was hung in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound: ‘The road to Jerusalem is strewn with the blood of the martyrs,'” he recalled. “Freedom of religion is important, but it should not be allowed of such a violent community to be incited in such a place,” Segal pointed out.
He told TPS that if the government decides not to restrict Muslim pilgrims’ access to the Temple Mount, Jewish visitors should not be restricted either.
“Democratic principles should allow everyone to visit the holy places, without discrimination,” Segal stressed. “Of course, it is important to limit violence in the holy places, but in the long term it makes sense to allow everyone to enter on an equal basis – both Jews and Muslims,” he added.
Meanwhile, Israeli police said today that they had arrested 20 East Jerusalem residents over the past two weeks on charges of inciting and supporting terrorism.
“From our past experience, we know that there are people who want to use the month of Ramadan to spread rumors and ‘fake news’ while posting a distorted version of reality on social media,” the police said in a statement. “Among them are terrorist organizations and terrorist elements who take advantage of the holiday to incite and spread false information about the reality in Jerusalem, the Old City and especially on the Temple Mount,” the police added.
The Temple Mount, where the First and Second Jewish Temples were built, is the holiest site in Judaism. The Western Wall is the only remnant of the retaining wall surrounding the Temple Mount, built by Herod the Great in the 1st century, and is the holiest place where Jews can freely pray.
Rabbis are increasingly divided over Jews climbing the Temple Mount. For centuries, the widespread rabbinic consensus was that the laws of ritual purity still applied to the site. But in recent years, a growing number of rabbis have argued that ritual purity laws do not apply to all parts of the Temple Mount and are encouraging visits to permitted areas to maintain Jewish ties to the Mount.
The delicate status quo governing the Temple Mount dates back to 1967, when Israel liberated Jerusalem’s Old City from Jordan during the Six-Day War. Fearing a religious war, then-Defense Minister Moshe Dayan agreed that the Islamic Waqf, a Muslim trust, would continue to manage the day-to-day affairs of the holy site, while Israel would retain overall sovereignty over it and be responsible for security. The waqf is controlled by Jordan.
Under the status quo, Jews and non-Muslims will be allowed to visit the Temple Mount, but not to pray there.