May 4, 2022 DiMora reissues warning concerning Temple Mount status quo

Hamas warns Israel ‘playing with fire’ as Temple Mount groups plan Thursday visit

Jewish groups vow to ascend to holy site on Israel’s Independence Day, waving Israeli flags and singing national anthem; Hamas officials said to arrive in Moscow for talks

Palestinians chant slogans and wave Hamas flags after Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, hours after Israeli police clashed with protesters at the Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem's Old City, April 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinians chant slogans and wave Hamas flags after Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, hours after Israeli police clashed with protesters at the Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

The Hamas terror group warned Israel against allowing Jewish visitors to enter the flashpoint Temple Mount site on Thursday after some right-wing groups planned to visit the sacred hilltop on Independence Day.

“The Zionist occupation authorities’ allowing flocks of settlers to storm the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque on Thursday is playing with fire and drags the region into an escalation for which the occupation will bear full responsibility,” Hamas said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon.

Nationalist Israeli groups are planning to ascend to the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, for the first time since Passover. The hilltop also contains the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam, making it a deeply contested flashpoint between Arabs and Jews.

The Jewish groups say they plan to wave the Israeli flag and sing Israel’s national anthem at the holy site in celebration of Independence Day, which falls on Thursday.

“This Independence Day begins in blue and white on the Temple Mount!” declared BeYadeynu, a right-wing group that promotes Jewish worship at the site.

An Israeli police officer stands guard as a Jewish group walks near the Dome of the Rock Mosque atop the Temple Mount on Tisha B’Av (the ninth of Av), a day of fasting commemorating the destruction of the ancient Temples, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Sunday, July 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

The Israeli government has repeatedly said it is committed to the status quo. But footage of police turning a blind eye to Jewish worshipers has repeatedly cropped up in recent years, angering Muslims.

Palestinians and Israeli forces have clashed repeatedly at the Temple Mount over the past few weeks. The violence echoed scenes from last year, when rioting helped spark a war between Israel and Gaza-based terror groups led by Hamas.

Hamas’s Gaza leader, Yahya Sinwar, said on Saturday the terror group “will not hesitate to take any steps” if Israel “violates” the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

“Our people must prepare for a great battle if the occupation does not cease its aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Sinwar said.

Separately, Gaza media close to the terror group reported that a Hamas delegation visited Moscow and met with senior Russian officials on Wednesday morning.

According to the Hamas-linked Safa news site, deputy Hamas chief Moussa Abu Marzouk led a delegation of senior members to the Russian capital. They and the Russian officials will discuss “the situation in Jerusalem and bilateral relations between Hamas and Russia,” Safa reported.

Ties between Russia and Israel have become increasingly strained in recent days. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused Jerusalem of backing a “neo-Nazi regime” in Ukraine and compared Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.