Despite the condemnation that followed Wednesday’s visit by Israel’s new ultranationalist national security minister to the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s old city, Jewish activists are pressing for restrictions on Jews visiting and praying at the sacred site to be lifted.
Militants from Gaza fired a rocket towards Israel on Wednesday night following the controversial visit to the site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, by Itamar Ben-Gvir, the head of the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Strength) party, but the projectile fell short, landing in an open area inside Gaza.
The Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia strongly condemned the visit to the compound revered by Muslims as the Harm al-Sharif noble sanctuary where the al-Aqsa mosque is situated. The Arab states argued that the visit violated the status quo of the holy sites in Jerusalem, although this was strenuously denied by Israeli officials.
The UAE, a member of the United Nations Security Council, wants a special session in the name of Jordan and the Palestinian Authority to discuss the situation at the flashpoint site.
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American, French and British officials also criticised the visit, and stressed the need to maintain the status quo at the holy sites in Jerusalem. US state department spokesperson Ned Price said the US was “deeply concerned by any unilateral actions precisely because they have the potential to exacerbate tensions, or worse”.
The hilltop plateau, the most sacred place in Judaism, is often referred to as the most sensitive piece of real estate in the Middle East. Under a status quo agreement with the Waqf Islamic Trust, which controls the day-to-day running of the site, Jews are allowed to visit but not pray at the site.
Jewish and other non-Muslim entry to the site is limited to three hours in the morning and one in the afternoon, from Sunday to Thursday, in organised groups, and Jews are permitted to enter the site only via the Mughrabi gate.
Jewish activists are now asking Mr Ben-Gvir, a long-time advocate of Jewish worship on the Temple Mount, to open the site to Jews on the Jewish sabbath, on evenings and Jewish holidays, and to open all gates leading to the compound to Jews.
One of the groups advocating Jewish worship at the site has requested permission from the police to renew the biblical tradition allowing animal sacrifice there during the Passover festival. “A golden opportunity exists to restore ancient glory and to renew the Passover sacrifice for the first time in some 2,000 years, an act that will advance redemption immediately and will go down in history as the commencement of the third temple’s construction,” the group wrote.
