OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
The city of Jerusalem, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque, is witnessing a remarkable escalation coinciding with the so-called Pesach or Jewish Passover holiday, amid warnings of a sensitive stage that may carry unprecedented shifts in the nature of violations inside Al-Aqsa Mosque, in light of political and security conditions described as “favorable” for establishing new facts.
The head of the Jerusalem International Center, Hassan Khater, warned that the Jewish holiday season this year is considered the most dangerous in years, confirming that “Jewish holidays have long constituted escalatory stations, but what is happening today exceeds previous patterns in terms of boldness and organization.”
He explained in a press statement on Friday that attempts to bring “animal sacrifices” into Al-Aqsa Mosque are being renewed at a higher pace, pointing to the documentation of recent attempts to bring animals through the gates of the Old City, despite their failure so far.
The continuous closure and its impact
Khater noted that Al-Aqsa Mosque has been closed for 35 days under flimsy pretexts and excuses, which provides suitable cover for Temple groups to intensify their activities and attempts to impose new religious rituals.
He said, “The continuation of the closure for long periods makes it difficult for Palestinian religious institutions to follow the affairs of the Mosque and protect it from violations.”
Sacrifices … a gateway to a more dangerous stage
Khater clarified that the danger of these attempts lies not only in their occurrence, but in what they represent as a preparation for imposing religious rituals inside Al-Aqsa, considering that offering sacrifices is the “pinnacle of rituals” for the Temple groups, which seek to establish them as a fait accompli.
He added that these steps fall within a gradual path aimed at reshaping the religious situation in Al-Aqsa Mosque, leading to broader projects related to imposing new religious sovereignty inside the Sanctuary.
A political environment encouraging escalation
Khater pointed out that these developments come in light of a number of factors that encourage escalation, most notably: the tightening of the security grip in Jerusalem, the preoccupation of the international community with other crises, and the escalating regional tensions.
He said, “All these conditions provide a suitable cover for the Temple groups to intensify their activities, and seek to achieve an actual breakthrough inside Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
Targeting beyond Al-Aqsa
Khater warned that the measures are not limited to Al-Aqsa Mosque, but extend to Christian holy sites, noting the restriction of religious celebrations, including the commemoration of “Palm Sunday” in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, considering that what is happening reflects a trend to impose comprehensive control over the holy sites and prevent their owners from practicing their rituals freely.
Dismantling the “Historical Status Quo”
Khater stressed that current policies represent a coup against the historical system that governed the administration of holy sites since the Ottoman era, which continued for centuries, and was based on fixed customs that ensured religious balance, adding that there are gradual efforts to dismantle this system and replace it with a new reality subject to full control, in preparation for imposing legal and legislative sovereignty over the holy sites.
Unprecedented field escalation
For his part, the Director of Jerusalem Waqf, Azzam al-Khatib, stressed that Al-Aqsa Mosque is witnessing during the “Hebrew Passover” season a dangerous and unprecedented escalation on the ground, confirming that the continuation of the closure for 35 days under the pretext of the war in Iran increases the fragility of the situation and gives extremist groups an opportunity to implement their plans.
Al-Khatib explained in a statement to the PIC correspondent that the Waqf follows the violations on a daily basis through its cadres and field monitors, noting the recording of more than five attempts to bring in animal sacrifices in one day, which is a record number the Mosque has not witnessed before.
He said, “These attempts are not random, but part of a systematic plan aimed at imposing religious rituals inside Al-Aqsa Mosque, and changing the historical status quo.”
Al-Khatib pointed out that these violations constitute a direct threat to the religious identity of the Mosque, and target the Islamic fabric of the holy sites, explaining that, “Any change in the status quo will lead to serious repercussions, not only on the religious level, but on the security and social safety of Jerusalem as a whole.”
He stressed that the Waqf is working to activate legal and religious protection mechanisms, in cooperation with local and international institutions, to ensure the preservation of the historical status of the Mosque, with the necessity of a broad Palestinian move to confront these plans before they become a reality.
He added, “We call on everyone to rally around Al-Aqsa Mosque and support it, whether through popular activities or media awareness, to ensure that no step that changes the historical equation is passed.”
In light of this escalation, Palestinian activists called for general mobilization and the organization of popular activities, especially on Fridays, in support of Al-Aqsa Mosque and in solidarity with the martyrs, in an attempt to confront attempts to impose a new reality inside the Noble Sanctuary.
