Israel Far-Proper Minister Visits Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound

Jerusalem:

Israel’s extreme-right firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir visited Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound Tuesday for the primary time since turning into a minister, his spokesman mentioned, enraging Palestinians who see the transfer as a provocation.

“Our authorities is not going to give up to the threats of Hamas,” Ben-Gvir mentioned in an announcement printed by his spokesman, after the Palestinian armed group warned such a transfer was a “purple line”.

Ben-Gvir’s go to comes days after he took workplace as nationwide safety minister, giving his resolution to enter the extremely delicate web site appreciable weight.

Al-Aqsa mosque is the third-holiest place in Islam and essentially the most sacred web site to Jews, who confer with the compound because the Temple Mount.

Below a historic established order, non-Muslims can go to the location at particular instances however will not be allowed to hope there.

However in recent times a rising variety of Jews, principally Israeli nationalists, have covertly prayed on the compound, a growth decried by Palestinians.

“The Temple Mount is crucial place for the individuals of Israel, and we preserve the liberty of motion for Muslims and Christians, however Jews may even go as much as the mount, and people who make threats have to be handled — with an iron hand,” mentioned Ben-Gvir.

Mendacity inside Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, the compound is run by Jordan’s Waqf Islamic affairs council, with Israeli forces working there and controlling entry.

‘Provocative step’

Ben-Gvir has lobbied to overtake administration of the location to permit Jewish prayer there, a transfer opposed by mainstream rabbinical authorities.

Waqf guards instructed AFP that Ben-Gvir was accompanied by items of the Israeli safety forces, whereas a drone hovered above the holy web site.

After he left the location on Tuesday morning, guests arrived on the plaza and the scenario remained quiet.

Jordan slammed the Israeli politician for “breaking into the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque and violating its sanctity.”

International ministry spokesman Sinan Majali condemned it as a “provocative step” in an announcement.

Whereas Ben-Gvir has visited the compound quite a few instances since getting into parliament in April 2021, his presence as a prime minister is very important.

A controversial go to in 2000 by then opposition chief Ariel Sharon was one of many important triggers for the second Palestinian intifada, or rebellion, which lasted till 2005.

The Palestinian international ministry condemned Ben-Gvir’s go to as an “unprecedented provocation and a critical risk to the sector of battle”.

Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, final week warned such a step can be “a giant purple line and it’ll result in an explosion”.

On Tuesday, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem deemed it a “crime” and vowed the location “will stay Palestinian, Arab, Islamic”.

‘Most irresponsible man’

Hamas guidelines the Gaza Strip and in Might 2021 an 11-day struggle broke out within the territory between Palestinian militants and Israel, after violence at Al-Aqsa mosque.

Lots of of Palestinians and dozens of Israeli cops have been wounded within the previous clashes throughout east Jerusalem, initially sparked by restrictions on Palestinians gathering and potential evictions of residents.

Throughout this era Ben-Gvir rallied his supporters at Israeli settler houses in east Jerusalem, which has been occupied by Israel because the 1967 Six-Day Conflict.

For years seen as a fringe determine, the Jewish Energy chief entered mainstream politics with the backing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israeli opposition chief Yair Lapid held Netanyahu accountable for Ben-Gvir’s controversial transfer.

“That is what occurs when a weak prime minister is pressured to entrust essentially the most irresponsible man within the Center East with essentially the most explosive place within the Center East,” he wrote on Twitter.

Ben-Gvir has advocated for Arab-Israelis deemed disloyal to the state to be expelled and for the annexation of the occupied West Financial institution.

Till a couple of years in the past he had a portrait in his lounge of Baruch Goldstein, who massacred 29 Palestinian worshippers at a Hebron mosque in 1994.

He launched his ministerial profession on December 29, as a part of Israel’s most right-wing authorities in historical past led by Netanyahu.

The premier made no point out of Ben-Gvir’s go to in his remarks Tuesday firstly of the brand new authorities’s first cupboard assembly.

(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)