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Hundreds of Israelis have entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem as part of one of the biggest events of the year.
Palestinian officials said they expected the number of people entering the site to continue to increase until sundown on Thursday, possibly reaching as many as 5,000, as Jews commemorate Tisha B’Av, the Jewish day of mourning that marks the destruction of ancient Jewish temples believed to have stood on Muslim holy sites.
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Orthodox Jews consider it forbidden to enter the Al-Aqsa compound, but the rise of the Zionist movement has led to an increase in the number of Jews trying to pray at the site, despite the law prohibiting the practice under the long-term provisions governing the square.
Those taking part in this year’s protest were also joined by far-right Israeli Defense Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who entered the building under police protection in what experts described as one of the most controversial events. national elections which is scheduled for October is approaching.
Israeli activists who attended Al-Aqsa – the symbol of the Palestinian state as well as religious – said the police, under the supervision of Ben-Gvir, allowed them to pray, sing and kneel through the city. Lawmaker Amit Halevi, a member of the ruling Likud party, and Rabbi Shimshon Elboim, who often leads Jews into the venue, raised Israeli flags while others sang the Israeli national anthem.
A history of violence
The influx of Israeli residents and officials to the Al-Aqsa mosque has increased in recent years, with Palestinian officials and religious leaders warning against efforts to change the situation at the compound, as part of an attempt to seize the site.
Ben-Gvir entered Al-Aqsa at least 16 times since becoming national security minister, despite criticism from Palestinians and warnings from regional governments that his visits could spark conflict. The participation has become a recurring feature of major Jewish holidays, reinforcing the prime minister’s earlier statement of his desire to build a synagogue at the site – the third holiest in Islam.
“On Tisha B’Av we remember the destruction, but we also see great progress on the Temple Mount,” Ben-Gvir told local media, using the mosque’s Jewish name, earlier Thursday. “Look at what’s happening here – Jews are praying, they feel like they belong here. This has never happened here before,” he said.
“This is happening in many places,” the right minister and provocateur, who was previously accused of inciting racism and supporting a terrorist group, he added. “Everywhere, people understand that Israel is in control.
Al Jazeera’s reporter, Nour Odeh, described how the Israeli authorities “extremely acted in the Old City” of Jerusalem before its destruction, including banning Palestinians from entering the area for all but the elderly and strengthening the administrative center of the West Bank.
Local media reported that police arrested 16 Jewish suspects in connection with the destruction of a Muslim cemetery in East Jerusalem overnight, as well as others accused of participating in violence and attacks on Palestinian passers-by.
However, there are no expectations that Israel’s opposition will oppose the intervention in any way, Aida Touma-Sliman of the left-wing Hadash party, told Al Jazeera. He added that the opposition may be to Ben-Gvir rather than to his supporters, as he seeks to defeat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition in October’s parliamentary elections.
“Over the past four years, the current government has changed the situation in Al-Aqsa – attacking it, arresting its sheikh, humiliating worshipers, and allowing residents to enter and pray there,” Touma-Sliman said. “Yet none of the opposition has said anything. So why should we expect them to do anything now?”
Making decisions
Political tensions have been rising in Israel ahead of the election, with politicians of all stripes jockeying for position, experts say. For Ben-Gvir and his colleagues on the far right, the basis is the growing number of violent and authoritarian Jewish people who have a major role in politics and in the media because of Israel’s war in Gaza.
“The settlers have managed over the years to infiltrate the government, the media, the military, even the Shin Bet (domestic intelligence agency) and they are confident, they believe they have their supporters in the right places, so they can change the rules of the game in Har Habait (the Hebrew name of the Al-Aqsa Mosque) and elsewhere,” said Ahron, a security instructor in Israel. King’s College London.
“I doubt that any Israeli government, which is here or the next, can stop or force the settlers, and their activities in Jerusalem and the West Bank where they are carrying out ethnic cleansing. The only way to stop them is the international boycott of Israel, and the non-violent Palestinian Intifada,” he said.
In recent weeks, as the election nears, talk of alienation has grown.
At the end of the week, Ben-Gvir, together with the Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, He led thousands Those who settle in Israel and their activists in Gaza want the resettlement of the settlements that Israel left in 2005. In the occupied West Bank, Smotrich praised himself for establishing his authority on Settlements within the Ministry of Defense, while government ministers, including Netanyahu, refer to the Palestinians living in Palestine. enclave – raising the prospect of ethnic cleansing.
“This is outrageous, pure and simple,” Yossi Mekelberg, a senior adviser at Chatham House, said of the liberals’ efforts to consolidate their votes and attract more people.
“This is just the beginning. We are looking at one of the biggest and most toxic elections in the history of Israel. Expect more elections in the West Bank, more trips to Gaza, more talk about the settlement of the city and more talk about the free movement of Palestinians. It will be very difficult.”
