Day: 3 January 2023

Turkey today condemned Israeli far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s incursion into Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

“We are concerned by the provocative act by the Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir on Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of the Israeli police and we condemn it,” Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a press release.

Ankara called on Israel “to act responsibly to prevent such provocations that will violate the status and sanctity of holy places in Jerusalem and escalate the tension in the region.”

Israel’s far-right national security minister Ben-Gvir barged his way into Al-Aqsa Mosque’s courtyards in the early morning hours, a move that bounds to inflame tensions.

A video posted on social media shows Ben-Gvir touring the courtyards with a heavy police escort.

This is not the first time that Ben-Gvir has stormed Al-Aqsa. In May last year, accompanied by his wife and son, Ben-Gvir posted a picture calling for the destruction of the site to “establish a synagogue on the mountain”.

Since Israel occupied the site following the 1967 war, Jewish prayer at the site has been forbidden, though far-right settlers such as Ben-Gvir (some of whom want to demolish Al-Aqsa and replace it with a third Jewish temple) have frequently prayed there under strict security in recent years.

When former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon made a similar trip to the site in 2000, it sparked the Second Intifada Palestinian uprising.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound houses both the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque and is considered the third holiest site in Islam.

Al-Aqsa is located in East Jerusalem, a part of the internationally recognized Palestinian territories that have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

The United Kingdom today expressed concern over Israeli far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s incursion into Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

The UK remains committed to the Status Quo, and it is important that all should avoid actions which inflame tensions and undermine the cause of peace,” The British Consulate General in Jerusalem said in a press statement.

Israel’s far-right national security minister Ben-Gvir barged his way into Al-Aqsa Mosque’s courtyards in the early morning hours, a move that bounds to inflame tensions.

A video posted on social media shows Ben-Gvir touring the courtyards with a heavy police escort.

This is not the first time that Ben-Gvir has stormed Al-Aqsa. In May last year, accompanied by his wife and son, Ben-Gvir posted a picture calling for the destruction of the site to “establish a synagogue on the mountain”.

Since Israel occupied the site following the 1967 war, Jewish prayer at the site has been forbidden, though far-right settlers such as Ben-Gvir (some of whom want to demolish Al-Aqsa and replace it with a third Jewish temple) have frequently prayed there under strict security in recent years.

When former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon made a similar trip to the site in 2000, it sparked the Second Intifada Palestinian uprising.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound houses both the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque and is considered the third holiest site in Islam.

Al-Aqsa is located in East Jerusalem, a part of the internationally recognized Palestinian territories that have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

Israeli forces Tuesday evening detained five Palestinians from the occupied West Bank districts of Jerusalem and Qalqiliya, according to local and security sources.

They said that heavily-armed Israeli police rounded up a Palestinian and assaulted others as dozens of Israeli far-right settlers marched the narrow alleys of Jerusalem’s Old City and made their way to Bab al-Majlis, one of the gates leading to Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Police rounded up two others from the Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Thuri.

Still in Jerusalem district, the sources confirmed a raid in al-Ram town, north of Jerusalem, resulting in the detention of another.

Meanwhile, the gun-toting soldiers showed up at a house in the northern West Bank city of Qalqiliya, went inside, conducted a thorough search and eventually detained another.

Earlier today, Israeli forces rounded up at least seven others from various parts of the West Bank.

In the northern West Bank, the soldiers detained a Palestinian and ransacked his family house in Kafr Qallil town, south of Nablus city.

They also conducted a similar raid in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, resulting in re-arresting a father along with his son.

In the southern West Bank, a convoy of army vehicles stormed Al-Asakra village, southeast of Bethlehem city, where the soldiers rounded up another.

In Hebron, the soldiers brutally assaulted and detained a girl in the vicinity of the Ibrahimi Mosque, as confirmed by Director of the Mosque Ghassan al-Rajabi.

They also detained two women, one in her 70s, after stopping them at a electronic turnstile leading to the mosque.

Israeli forces frequently raid Palestinian houses almost on a daily basis across the West Bank on the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians, triggering clashes with residents.

These raids, which take place also in areas under the full control of the Palestinian Authority, are conducted with no need for a search warrant, whenever and wherever the military chooses in keeping with its sweeping arbitrary powers.

Under Israeli military law army commanders have full executive, legislative and judicial authority over 3 million Palestinians living in the West Bank. Palestinians have no say in how this authority is exercised.

According to the latest figures from Addameer, the Palestinian Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, there are currently 4,700 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 150 children and 34 female prisoners.

This number includes approximately 835 Palestinians placed under “administrative detention”, that allows the detention of Palestinians without charge or trial for renewable intervals ranging between three and six months based on undisclosed evidence that even a detainee’s lawyer is barred from viewing.

Mass arrest of Palestinians is nothing new. According to a 2017 report by Addameer, over the past 50 years, more than 800,000 Palestinians have been imprisoned or detained by Israel, this figure is now believed to be closer to 1 million. This means that about 40% of Palestinian men and boys living under military occupation have been deprived of their freedom. Almost every Palestinian family has suffered the imprisonment of a loved one.

Israeli forces frequently raid Palestinian houses almost on a daily basis across the West Bank on the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians, triggering clashes with residents.

These raids, which take place also in areas under the full control of the Palestinian Authority, are conducted with no need for a search warrant, whenever and wherever the military chooses in keeping with its sweeping arbitrary powers.

Under Israeli military law army commanders have full executive, legislative and judicial authority over 3 million Palestinians living in the West Bank. Palestinians have no say in how this authority is exercised.

According to the latest figures from Addameer, the Palestinian Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, there are currently 4,700 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 150 children and 34 female prisoners.

This number includes approximately 835 Palestinians placed under “administrative detention”, that allows the detention of Palestinians without charge or trial for renewable intervals ranging between three and six months based on undisclosed evidence that even a detainee’s lawyer is barred from viewing.

Mass arrest of Palestinians is nothing new. According to a 2017 report by Addameer, over the past 50 years, more than 800,000 Palestinians have been imprisoned or detained by Israel, this figure is now believed to be closer to 1 million. This means that about 40% of Palestinian men and boys living under military occupation have been deprived of their freedom. Almost every Palestinian family has suffered the imprisonment of a loved one.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

The European Union today recalled the importance of preserving the status quo of the holy sites in the occupied city of East Jerusalem.

“We recall the importance of preserving the status quo of the Holy sites, and are concerned for actions that go against it,” the Office of the European Union Representative in Jerusalem said in a press statement in reference to Israeli far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s incursion into Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

“They risk to heighten tensions in Jerusalem and in the occupied Palestinian territory,” it added.

“The past weeks have seen a dangerous increase of tensions and casualties. It is important to de-escalate and avoid any actions and provocations that fuel these tensions.”

The EU called on “all actors on the ground and in the wider region to show calm and restraint in order to prevent any escalation,” while stressing that its “position on Jerusalem remains unchanged: the aspirations of both parties must be fulfilled and the status of Jerusalem as the future capital of both states needs to be resolved.”

Israel’s far-right national security minister Ben-Gvir barged his way into Al-Aqsa Mosque’s courtyards in the early morning hours, a move that bounds to inflame tensions.

A video posted on social media shows Ben-Gvir touring the courtyards with a heavy police escort.

This is not the first time that Ben-Gvir has stormed Al-Aqsa. In May last year, accompanied by his wife and son, Ben-Gvir posted a picture calling for the destruction of the site to “establish a synagogue on the mountain”.

Since Israel occupied the site following the 1967 war, Jewish prayer at the site has been forbidden, though far-right settlers such as Ben-Gvir (some of whom want to demolish Al-Aqsa and replace it with a third Jewish temple) have frequently prayed there under strict security in recent years.

When former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon made a similar trip to the site in 2000, it sparked the Second Intifada Palestinian uprising.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound houses both the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque and is considered the third holiest site in Islam.

Al-Aqsa is located in East Jerusalem, a part of the internationally recognized Palestinian territories that have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

Egypt’s Al-Azhar, the world’s top Islamic institution for Sunni Muslims, condemned today the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli Jewish supremacist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

In a press statement, Al-Azhar described incursion of Ben-Gvir, under police escort, into the mosque courtyards as a “barbaric” behavior and an act of desecration of the Islamic holy sites.

Al-Azhar stressed that these provocative actions clearly reflect the Israeli occupation’s barbarism and attempt to impose a political reality by force of arms, and to erase the historical identity of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

History will not forgive this occupation, nor its supporters, and those who remain tight-lipped about their crimes against the Palestinian people, Al-Azhar said.

Al-Azhar called on the international community to take decisive positions to stop the ongoing Israeli crimes and to safeguard the holy places in the Jerusalem and the entire occupied Palestinian territories from the oppression of the Israeli occupation.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)