Enraged, Palestinians condemn Ben-Gvir's Al-Aqsa intentions
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The Higher Presidential Committee of Churches Affairs in Palestine warns that Ben-Gvir's announcement could lead to a major explosion in the region and the world.
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Muslim worshippers offer Eid al-Adha prayers next to the Dome of the Rock shrine at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in al-Quds' Old City, Sunday, June 16, 2024. (AP)
Calls by Israeli occupation Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to build a Jewish synagogue on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound are highly dangerous, Palestinian Presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh warned on Monday, emphasizing that the Palestinian people will not tolerate any violations against the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which he described as "a red line that cannot be tampered with at all."
Abu Rudeineh underscored that these condemned calls to tamper with the status of Al-Aqsa Mosque are attempts to provoke a religious conflict that could engulf the entire region, underlining that the 144-dunam compound belongs exclusively to Muslims.
He urged the international community, particularly the US administration, to take immediate steps to restrain this extremist right-wing government and compel it to respect the legal and historical status quo in al-Quds.
The spokesperson pointed out that continued US political, military, and financial support emboldens these extremists in their aggressive actions against the Palestinian people, their land, and their holy sites.
Abu Rudeineh stressed that the US bears responsibility for the genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the ongoing killings, detainments, and destruction in the West Bank, including al-Quds.
Elsewhere, he called on the US to pressure its ally "Israel" to end its aggression and curb the terrorism of its settlers.
The Palestinian Authority said Ben-Gvir's remark expressing support for a synagogue being placed atop the "Temple Mount" in al-Quds is tantamount to an explicit call for the Al-Aqsa Mosque to be razed and replaced with a Jewish house of worship.
In a statement, the PA’s Foreign Ministry called on allies from the international arena to “pressure Israel to force it to put an end to Ben-Gvir’s practices, statements and provocative stances.”
Ben-Gvir's remarks expose Israeli intentions toward Al-Aqsa: Hamas
On its part, the Hamas movement said Ben-Gvir's latest remarks represent a dangerous development and expose the Israeli occupation government's true intentions regarding Al-Aqsa’s Arab and Islamic identity and its criminal efforts to Judaize and tighten its control over the site.
Hamas indicated that the unprecedented atrocities committed by the fascist occupation in Gaza, widespread violations in the West Bank, and the unrestrained actions of extremist ministers advancing their malicious agendas in al-Quds and Al-Aqsa only add fuel to the fire, vowing that this will only be met with greater resistance from the Palestinian people defending their sanctities.
The group called on the Palestinian people in the occupied West Bank and the 1948 occupied territories to mobilize and gather at Al-Aqsa Mosque and its courtyards to confront the occupation’s schemes.
It urged Palestinian youths in the West Bank to intensify confrontations with the Israeli occupation forces and settler gangs.
Hamas also called upon Arab and Islamic nations, governments, peoples, and organizations, especially the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), to fulfill their responsibilities and take firm action against the Israeli occupation’s plans and flagrant violations against the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Similarly, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said the Israeli government is exploiting the Arab silence and the absence of Islamic and Christian authorities to implement its Judaization plan.
It added that the Arab silence and complicity regarding the genocide in Gaza is emboldening the occupation leaders to carry out all their plans against the Palestinian people.
Dangerous precedent that could lead to an explosion in the region
In a similar vein, the Higher Presidential Committee of Churches Affairs in Palestine strongly condemned and denounced Ben-Gvir's announcement, describing it as a dangerous precedent that could lead to a major explosion in the region and the world and urging action to counter these plans before it is too late.
In a statement, the Committee's chairman Ramzi Khoury pointed out that these extremist remarks are part of the official policy of the extremist Israeli government, which has repeatedly violated the legal, historical, and religious status quo of the Al-Aqsa Mosque as part of its colonial Judaization project targeting the occupied city of al-Quds and its Islamic and Christian holy sites.
Khoury noted that these statements follow a long series of incursions led by Ben-Gvir, along with other ministers and lawmakers, who have performed Talmudic rituals and raised the Israeli flag inside the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Read more: Ben-Gvir represents 'terrorists' in Israeli government: Haaretz
