The far-right leader and Israeli Security Minister visited the area surrounded by a large group of agents. Former Prime Minister Lapid condemned the decision, which will undoubtedly trigger more violence. For the Palestinian government this is an “unprecedented provocation”. Jewish settlers supported by the police occupied land belonging to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate.
Jerusalem () – A “provocation” that has been condemned by the Palestinians and criticized by former Prime Minister Yair Lapid. Widely announced, the first “visit” and corresponding walk of Itamar Ben-Gvir as Security Minister to the site where the al-Aqsa mosque is located, a few days after the inauguration of the new Israeli government, has not been expected. the most right-wing in the history of the country. Palestinian leaders believe that the decision could trigger a new spiral of violence when 2022 has just ended, the year with the highest number of victims since the end of the Second Intifada.
The Ynet website published images of Ben-Gvir visiting the site, surrounded by a large contingent of security agents. That is the third most important place of worship in Islam after Mecca and Medina, but it is also a sacred place for Judaism where, according to tradition, the Temple Mount is located.
Israeli opposition leader and former prime minister Lapid immediately commented on the visit, noting that it is surely bound to unleash more violence. Only Muslims are allowed to worship there and so far there is no indication that Ben-Gvir prayed during the visit. The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Relations has “strongly condemned the attack” on the al-Aqsa mosque, a gesture that it considers an “unprecedented provocation and a dangerous escalation of the conflict.”
Last week another front of confrontation with Christians had been opened because Jewish settlers – supported by police forces – seized land owned by the Greek Orthodox Church in East Jerusalem. On December 27, neighbors and witnesses denounced the attack on a property of about 5,000 square meters in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan, south of the Old City, in the early hours of the morning.
The settlers fenced off the area and installed surveillance cameras, under the watchful eye of the police who protected them from attacks or protests. The reaction of the neighbors did not wait, who went to the place to try to stop the confiscation of the land, but in response they were attacked by settlers and police who arrested three young Palestinians. “They beat everyone, men, women and children” without distinction, accuses a source reproduced by the Wadi Hilweh Information Center.
The land is owned by the Silwan Greek Orthodox Monastery, which is part of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
