Israel allows hundreds of Jews to pray at AlAqsa Mosque for first time

Israel has allowed 180 Jewish worshippers to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque, the largest number ever permitted by the authorities.

On Wednesday, dozens of worshippers were seen entering the site, referred to as Temple Mount in Judaism, flanked by Israeli security services.

The move marks a departure from Israel's previous policy of allowing no more than 30 Jewish Israelis at a time into the site, which was conquered by Israel in the 1967 war and is recognised as occupied territory internationally.

Israeli police said that "officers safeguarded visits to the Temple Mount in accordance with visitation regulations and group size limitations, which are determined by circumstances such as overall visitor numbers and the police's ability to ensure public safety and order".

Thousands of Jewish worshippers could be seen dancing and celebrating at the Lions' Gate entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem. Muslim worshippers were prevented from entering the mosque.

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Aouni Bazbaz, director of international affairs at the Islamic Waqf, the organisation that administers Al-Aqsa Mosque, told Middle East Eye that the scenes on Wednesday - and in the previous days - had been unprecedented.

"These are frightening scenes," he said.

Bazbaz added that the total of settlers who entered the site in 2003 stood at 258, while "the numbers have risen exponentially" today, with thousands making their way into the complex.

"Today [as the Islamic Waqf], we will be dealing with something we have never ever dealt with before," he said.

A change in status quo?

The Chief Rabbinate of Jerusalem has long declared Jewish worship on Temple Mount forbidden unless worshippers are "ritually pure", which is believed impossible under modern conditions.

However, many Orthodox Jewish settlers oppose this stance, arguing that preventing them from worshipping there is discriminatory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously said that "the status quo on the Temple Mount has not changed and will not change", referring to a 1757 Ottoman decree reaffirming a ban on non-Muslims entering Al-Aqsa Mosque and granting Jews the right to pray at the Western Wall.

However, in recent years, visits by Jewish settlers to the site have become increasingly routine.

Some Israeli government members, such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, have openly called for Jewish prayer to be permitted at Al-Aqsa Mosque. The far-right minister has even been filmed entering the complex on several occasions.

Some Israeli settlers have called for the construction of a Jewish temple modelled after two temples that once stood on the site - a move that some have said would necessitate the destruction of Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of the three holiest sites in Islam.

The Temple Mount Administration, a far-right group advocating for the construction of a temple on the site, said on Tuesday that there had been "3,000 worshippers at the Temple Mount in the first three days of Passover".

Bazbaz warned that the division of Al-Aqsa Mosque was increasingly becoming a reality. He compared it to the situation at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, which has been divided into a mosque and a synagogue - both under Israeli control.

"Let's use the media phrase for what is happening: apartheid or segregation has become a historical and current reality on the ground," he said.

Bazbaz added that the situation had worsened since the start of the war in Gaza, with Jewish religious practices on Al-Aqsa Mosque being encouraged and even backed by the authorities.

"What happened today was more of a move to cause outrage rather than for religious purposes," he said.

middleeasteye.net