Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the Hamas terrorist group, threatened retaliation on Tuesday for any change to the status quo on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.
The esplanade is the holiest place for Jews as the site of the biblical shrines, while the Al-Aqsa Mosque, located atop the mountain, is the third holiest for Muslims, who believe the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven from there. Were.
“We absolutely will not allow the implementation of Zionist plans in Al-Aqsa Mosque or in Jerusalem,” Haniyeh said in a speech marking Hamas’ 35th anniversary.
He warned, “The sword of Jerusalem is not sheathed and will not be sheathed.”
Israel claimed sovereignty over all of Jerusalem following its victory in the 1967 Six-Day War, but allowed the Jordanian institution of the Islamic Waqf to retain its administrative authority over Mt. Jews are allowed to visit the site but not pray there, a delicate situation that some Jewish activists push for expanded prayer rights.
Haniyeh’s comments come amid speculation that the appointment of Itamar Ben Gvir, leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, to the post of minister of national security could lead to policy changes that would allow Jews to pray at the site in a more exclusive manner. Police have enforced the Jewish prayer ban for decades as a public safety measure.
On Monday, Ben Gvir called for an end to the prayer restrictions, which he called anti-Semitic “apartheid” at the holy site.
During coalition-building talks, incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the right-wing Likud party reportedly rejected an Otzma Yehudit proposal to change the status quo on Mt.
A poll in May found that 50 percent of Israeli Jews think that Jews should be allowed to pray at the site. Three out of four respondents said they supported that view because Jewish prayer reflects Israel’s sovereignty.
Many rabbis, however, interpret Jewish law as prohibiting visits to the Temple Mount because visitors may walk on holy ground. Israel’s chief Sephardic rabbi, Yitzhak Yosef, condemned the periodic ascension of Ben Gvir in June as “blasphemy”.
Jews travel to the Temple Mount on August 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illian)
Minor changes to the status quo at the holy site or even rumors of such changes have sparked violent protests in the past, and contributed to the war between Israel and Gaza militant groups last year. In 2017, a decision to install metal detectors and cameras on the compound following a deadly attack sparked days of angry protests and condemnation from Israel’s Muslim neighbors.
Hamas’s Haniyeh, an Islamist, said on Tuesday that “Hamas has made an agreement with our people on the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and has preserved the depth of the Islamic spirit with regard to our Jerusalem and our Al-Aqsa.”
Haniyeh’s broadcast prominently displayed the message “Al-Aqsa is in danger” and the Hamas logo on the Dome of the Rock, located in the mosque complex.
Anger from terrorist organizations such as Hamas is often seen as fueling conflicts in Jerusalem, such as the one in April that left 160 Palestinians injured and Israeli security forces advancing on the Al-Aqsa compound.
