Israel right wing takes aim at Al-Aqsa as provocations escalate

Alameen Templeton

The Israeli government is so confident the US has “bullet-proofed” it against international accountability that it is preparing to fund a settler storming of Al Aqsa in a direct challenge to Iran that is still preparing a missile retaliation against the rogue state.
The announcement Tuesday by right-wing heritage minister Amichai Eliyahu is also a direct snub to recent rulings by the International Court of Justice on the Gaza genocide and Israel’s actions in the occupied territories.
Iran has warned the buildup in Israel’s right-wing provocations are testing the Islamic world’s patience.
Nasser Kanaani, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry warned Tuesday the ramping up of provocations were a direct challenge to the Ummah. Any encroachment on Al-Aqsa would lead to severe repercussions, he warned, adding Al-Aqsa was a “red line”.

While Benjamin Netanyahu’s government might claim the rightwingers are acting on their own, it’s massive escalation into the West Bank Wednesday will be telling.

At least nine Palestinians have been killed so far in the biggest invasion of the  territory by Israeli forces in the last 20 years.
Israel has danced a legalistic jig so far to avoid direct complicity in the daily violence settlers are waging unrestrained in the West Bank, usually under the watchful guard Israeli soldiers.
But right-wing heritage minister Amichai Eliyahu has had enough of pussy footing around. He’s famous for calling for nuclear weapons to be used in the Gaza genocide and has demanded Israel must settle the ghetto once the genocide is complete.
Now, he’s putting government money aside to fund a planned storming of Al Aqsa. The planned invasion of the sacred compound is a direct challenge to the ICJ ruling in July that Israeli law is not allowed to be applied in the occupied territories.
It ruled only Palestinian law was applicable there and resources must be used for the benefit of Palestinians.
But Israel’s right-wing politicians are now increasingly using public resources to fund their mad schemes that they’re making part of official Israeli policy, deepening the rogue state’s complicity in their illegal actions.
Al Mayadeen Wednesday described Eliyahu’s announcement as “an inflammatory first for the Israeli regime”.
Israeli public broadcaster KAN11 reported Monday Eliyahu will allocate 2 million NIS (approximately $545,000) for this controversial project in the coming weeks.
KAN11 said Eliyahu had been in contact with the Police Ministry, led by the far-right Itamar Ben-Gvir, to secure the necessary permissions for the invasion into al-Aqsa.
Hamas condemned the decision as a dangerous escalation, warning it would lead the region to a religious war.
Police minister Itamar Ben Gvir Monday on Israeli Army Radio reiterated his policy of allowing Israeli settlers to perform prayers inside the al-Aqsa Masjid. Ben-Gvir was adamant prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to this policy prior to the formation of the coalition government.
The status quo, established before the Israeli occupation of eastern al-Quds in 1967, placed the holy site under the authority of the Islamic Waqf of al-Quds, affiliated with the Jordanian government.
However, since 2003, Israeli authorities have allowed settlers to enter the al-Aqsa Masjid over the protestations of the Islamic Waqf.
Ben-Gvir Monday proposed the construction of a synagogue within the compound and said he is now including his planned changes to the status quo as part of his ministry’s formal action plan.
The inflammatory statements by the two ministers come a couple of weeks after hundreds of settlers, including Ben-Gvir, raided the Al-Aqsa compound under the protection of occupation police forces.
“Temple Mount is ours, Damascus Gate is ours, let the whole world know that,” Ben-Gvir said, adding, “Today, according to my policy, Jews entered the Old City freely. And on the Temple Mount Jews prayed freely. We say in the simplest way, it’s ours,” Ben-Gvir said in a July statement.
The Islamic Endowments Department in al-Quds said 2 200 settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in a commemoration of the “destruction of the temple.”
Jordan’s Foreign Miniser Ayman Safadi Tuesday called on the UN Security Council to take immediate action against Ben-Gvir for his statement.
He urged the UNSC to adopt a binding resolution that prevents the occupation from committing further violations and escalations around the compound.
“We urge the Security Council and all members of the Int’l community to take immediate effective action to stop the illegal Israeli measures that violate the historical and legal status quo at occupied Jerusalem’s Holy Sites. As the occupying power, Israel is legally responsible for protecting the historical and legal Status quo,” Safadi wrote on X.
“The situation is already explosive. The hate-driven ideology enabling the designs to change the identity of the Mosque will provide the spark. The consequences will be dangerous,” Safadi said.