Katz says hold over Jerusalem will be ‘strengthened’ after Ben-Gvir’s Al-Aqsa visit
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz says his country will strengthen its “hold and sovereignty” over Jerusalem, the Western Wall and Temple Mount, referring to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound – Islam’s third holiest site.
Katz’s post on X comes after Ben-Gvir stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, where the far-right national security minister prayed, in a violation of the status quo, which maintains that the compound is under the exclusive control of Muslims, who are the only group allowed to pray there.
“On Tisha B’Av, two thousand years after the destruction of the Second Temple, the Western Wall and the Temple Mount are once again under the sovereignty of the State of Israel,” Katz wrote, calling the Al-Aqsa compound the Temple Mount.
“Israel’s enemies around the world will continue to make decisions against us and demonstrate, and we will strengthen our hold and sovereignty over Jerusalem, the Western Wall, and the Temple Mount forever and ever,” he added.
The state of Israel did not exist 2,000 years ago, the concept of sovereign states did not exist until 1648...
Israeli police arrest 3 Al-Aqsa guards after settler incursion into holy site
Israeli police have arrested three Al-Aqsa Mosque guards after Ben-Gvir, accompanied by more than 1,000 Israelis, stormed the compound, the Ministry of Islamic Endowments reports.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office, the three guards were Muhammad Teena, Muhammad Badran and Ahmad Abu Aliya.
Ben-Gvir’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound incursion aimed at increasing tensions
Itamar Ben-Gvir made an incursion into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem, along with a large number of settlers, many from the hardline Temple Mount group – and the aim appears to be to ratchet up tensions.
Reports say there were at least 2,000, if not 3,000, Jews who entered the compound early this morning. It was during the visitation hours agreed upon in the status quo agreement, but that agreement does not allow Jews to pray there.
But after Ben-Gvir became Israel’s minister of national security, he actually ordered the Israeli police to allow Jews to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Today, for Jews, coincides with what they consider an anniversary of the destruction of the so-called Temple Mount, which is the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
So he had this show of defiance, and, from there, he called for the full occupation of Gaza, extending Israel’s sovereignty onto it and promoting the emigration of Palestinians out of the Strip.
Protest in West Bank in solidarity with Gaza and Palestinians jailed by Israel
A child holds a pot and a spoon during a protest in solidarity with Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, in Hebron
Israel detains 18,500 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since October 2023: Report
Israeli forces have detained about 18,500 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem, since it launched its war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, according to a new report.
At least 570 Palestinian women and at least 1,500 children are among the detained, a joint report by the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, and Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association said.
This is the highest number of detentions since the second Intifada in 2000.
More than 194 journalists have also been detained, 49 of whom are still behind bars.
“The arrest campaigns have been accompanied by severe violations and acts of violence, including physical assaults, torture, threats against detainees and their families, the looting and destruction of property, and widespread damage to civilian homes and infrastructure. Vehicles, personal funds, and gold have also been confiscated,” the report found.
“In parallel with these campaigns, Israeli forces have conducted extrajudicial executions, including targeting relatives of detainees,” it said.
The report added that since the start of the war, at least 75 detainees have died in Israeli custody, 46 of whom were from Gaza.
