The controversy surrounding the Bab al-Rahma (Gate of Mercy or Golden Gate) prayer hall, situated east of al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount, resurfaced on Saturday after the Wakf claimed that Israel Police officers halted renovation work at the set.
The set change into as soon as closed by court docket expose in 2003 after the police came across that participants of the Islamic Motion in the Israel-Northern Division were the consume of it for political actions. In spite of the closure, Palestinian activists maintain made repeated attempts to reopen it.
In 2019, activists reopened the entrance to the prayer hall, allowing a total bunch of Muslim worshipers to pray. When the police tried to shut the attach again, they were met with protests by Muslim worshipers, the Jordanian-managed Wakf Islamic spiritual have confidence and the Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinians and Jordanians have confidence in tips the Bab al-Rahma prayer hall a mosque and an integral a part of al-Aqsa Mosque compound, or al-Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), which is poke by the Wakf in east Jerusalem.
Within the aftermath of the 2019 protests, Israel reportedly reached an settlement with the Wakf to protect the set closed, whereas allowing Muslim worshipers to pray advance it.
Palestinians pray as Israeli security forces take hang of attach at the Al-Aqsa compound, additionally called the Temple Mount, whereas tension arises for the interval of clashes with Palestinians in Jerusalem’s Passe Metropolis, April 5, 2023
Final Saturday, on the opposite hand, police officers reportedly entered Bab al-Rahma and removed electricity cables and construction supplies from the prayer hall.
The transfer sparked a wave of condemnations by the Wakf and loads of other Palestinian officers and factions, who gape it as a part of an Israeli device to divide the Temple Mount in time and residential between Muslim and Jewish worshipers.
Israeli authorities accused of violating al-Aqsa Mosque sanctity
The Wakf Division accused the Israeli authorities of “violating the sanctity of al-Aqsa Mosque.” It emphasised that the Bab al-Rahma prayer hall is an “real a part of the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque” and acknowledged that the Wakf rejects any intervention of police in the renovation work done at the holy set.
The Palestinian mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, accused Israeli authorities of finishing up an “aggression” in opposition to al-Aqsa and the Bab al-Rahma prayer part. He called on all Muslims to converge on the holy set to “defend” it in opposition to the “aggression.” The mufti additionally warned Israel of the “grave consequences” of its actions at the Temple Mount.
“The mosque belongs fully to Muslims,” he acknowledged. “We reject any [Israeli] try to intervene in the administration of the Islamic holy sites. We are in opposition to any try to change the role quo at the Haram al-Sharif.”
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem acknowledged based totally on Saturday’s alleged incident at the prayer part that Israel change into as soon as “determined to escalate its spiritual battle on our holy sites.” He added: “The fight over the identity of al-Aqsa Mosque is ongoing. The mosque’s identity is Palestinian-Arab-Islamic.”
“We reject any [Israeli] try to intervene in the administration of the Islamic holy sites. We are in opposition to any try to change the role quo at the Haram al-Sharif.”
Sheikh Mohammed Hussein
Tareq Silmi, a spokesman for Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the 2nd largest horror neighborhood in the Gaza Strip after Hamas, warned that Israeli attempts to “protect an eye fixed on” the Bab al-Rahma set won’t be successful. “The Palestinian folk won’t relinquish their duties in direction of al-Aqsa Mosque and the general compound, including prayer halls,” he remarked. “Any injure precipitated to the Islamic holy sites will maintain expansive repercussions on the region.”
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