Violence threatened and PA alleges ‘Judaization and ethnic cleansing’ on Temple Mount
Senior Islamic Jihad official Muhammad Shalach said in an interview Sunday that the terror factions in Gaza Strip are “determined to respond at all costs” if Israel causes a large number of casualties, a “massacre” as he put it, during the IDF’s counterterrorism operation in Jenin, or if a Passover offering is sacrificed at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Armed militants of the Islamic Jihad terror organization and their supporters take part in a rally in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip to celebrate the terror attacks in Israel during the last two weeks and to praise the shooting attack in Tel Aviv which took the lives of three Israelis. Khan Younis, Apr 8, 2022. Photo by Majdi Fathi/TPS
“The resistance, which already proved last year [during Operation Guardian of the Walls] that it is ready to enter the confrontation to prevent the settlers from the flag parade [on Jerusalem Day], will not remain in captivity now and it will enter another campaign to prevent the intention of extremist Jews to lay the cornerstone for the construction of the temple and altar,” he threatened.
While a small group of about 20 Jews attempted to sacrifice a lamb ahead of the Passover holiday on Friday, no one has advocated “the construction of the temple and altar.”
Shalach alleged that “the Zionist enemy’s aggressive intentions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque are reflected in the fact that settler gangs repeatedly break into mosques,” adding that “we say this is a very dangerous step and we will go the furthest in this campaign.”
About 730 Jews visited the Temple Mount on Sunday, despite violence from Muslim rioters at the site and despite limitations set by the police.
Shalach reiterated the position of the Palestinian terror factions and emphasized in the interview that “if the Jews intend to offer a Passover sacrifice, we are willing to make a sacrifice to Allah in the name of protecting al-Aqsa, and we will not allow the taboo to be crossed.”
Shalach added that the Israeli military efforts in Jenin could also lead to Gaza joining the battle.
“The threats and pressure from the Zionist enemy on Jenin have recently diminished with the understanding that this may lead to the opposition of Gaza joining the battle along with other fronts,” he claimed.
Shalach also attacked the Jordanian effort to calm the situation on the Temple Mount and charged that “Jordan gave a green light when it tried to prevent Muslims from guarding mosques on Ramadan nights thus allowing and giving settlers a chance to break into the mosques.”
On the mediation efforts between Israel and the terror factions through Arab countries in the region, the senior Islamic Jihad official said that “we sent a message to the Egyptian mediator and other elements and asked to warn Israel against breaking into the Temple Mount or a massacre in Jenin.”
He criticized the Arab states and said that “if they are not able to stand by the Palestinian position and defend the sanctuary of Islam, then at least they should not be expected to stand by the Zionists and not add to the pressure on the resistance in Gaza.”
Similarly, Sheikh Akrama Tsabari, head of the Supreme Muslim Council and a preacher at the al-Aqsa mosque, claimed that “the danger exists and the invasions of the settlers continue daily.”
“Some of the rabbis held religious ceremonies last Tuesday in the mosque plaza and now some of them are defiant and provocative and announce that they intend to sacrifice the Passover sacrifice in the plaza. They are playing with fire that I hope it burns them.”
Palestinian Authority Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad Al-Maliki sent letters to the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, and the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Hissein Brahim Taha calling on them to “intervene with all parties to support Jerusalem and its Christian and Islamic sanctities, foremost of which is the Al-Aqsa Mosque, from the Israeli Judaization and ethnic cleansing.”
“Confronting the Israeli occupation’s attacks on Jerusalem and its sanctities is a collective Arab and Islamic responsibility that requires a reinforcement of the Arab and Islamic action at all political, diplomatic and international legal levels,” said Al-Maliki.
In his letters, Al-Maliki urged Arab and Muslim leaders to mobilize for international protection for our people “so that then people of Jerusalem are not left alone in the face of these Israeli violations and grave breaches of international law.”
Responding to the allegations, Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lior Haiat stated Sunday that “instead of calming the situation, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs chose to join extremist groups in spreading fake news, with the aim of escalating the violence.”
“Israel maintains religious freedom and worship in Jerusalem, in the holy places of the three religions that celebrate their holidays during this period. Any attempt to present another false picture is a tailwind to Palestinian terrorist organizations and criminals. The same factors in their behavior despise the spirit of Islam itself,” he stated.
The country’s security establishment is bracing for further violence, especially as Ramadan coincides with Passover, and following the first anniversary of Operation Guardian of the Walls in May 2021, which was launched by the IDF following a Hamas rocket attack on Jerusalem that began at the height of the Month of Ramadan.
By Baruch Yedid and Aryeh Savir/TPS
Non Muslim should say away for this Mosque unless its an organized tour approved by the mosques administration. The original Israelite temple was destroyed by the Romans centuries before Islam was started by Mohamad. The ancient Israelite built the temple well as the original foundations (the wailing wall) were suitable a few centuries later to be the base for the later beautiful Mosque which is recognized world wide just like the Vatican in Rome and St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
The good thing about this, is GOD sees it all. And this is his world not the world governments.