Escalation looms in Palestine on Tuesday, as Zionist supremacist Itamar Ben-Gvir visited Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Al-Quds for first time as a security minister, in a move seen by Palestinians as highly provocative.
Ben-Gvir broke into the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, amid tight security measures from Israeli occupation forces, Israeli media reported.
“Our government will not surrender to threats from Hamas,” Ben Gvir said at the conclusion of his visit, referring to threats made earlier by the Palestinian resistance movement.
Israeli media reported that Ben-Gvir had requested the Israeli police to coordinate Ben-Gvir’s expected incursions into the Islamic holy site next Tuesday and Wednesday.
Tuesday’s visit by Ben Gvir, whose ministry is in charge of policing, was held after an assessment with security and police officials, his office said in a statement, as cited by The Times of Israel.
After his meeting with Netanyahu, Ben Gvir met later Monday with Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, as well as Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai and Al-Quds (Jerusalem) district commander, who “determined there was no obstacle” to the visit, the statement added.
Ben-Gvir was sworn in as Israeli Minister of the so-called National Security last week, becoming a key member of the Zionist entity’s most racist, far-right government coalition ever led by long-running Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Resistance Says Finger on Trigger
Palestinian resistance factions, for their part, threatened that the fighters’ fingers are on the trigger, warning that the Israeli minister’s visit to the holy compound “is a dangerous move that may lead to religious war.”
“The resistance is vigilant and fully ready as it conducts continuous assessment,” the Islamic Jihad said in a statement, adding: “Our finger is on the trigger.”
Resistance factions in Gaza also issued a joint statement, stressing the “Israeli occupation bears full responsibility for repercussions of its continuous aggression against our people.”
Hamas also denounced the visit as a “crime that reveals the extent of fear the occupation commanders are living,” its spokesman Hazem Qassem said, stressing that “Palestinians will continue to defend the sanctity of Al-Aqsa.”
For its part, the Palestinian Authority’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, calling it an “unprecedented provocation.”
“Netanyahu bears responsibility for this attack on al-Aqsa,” the PA said in a statement.
Fatah Movement Spokesman Monzer Hayek indicated that the Israeli enemy will fail to alter the Palestinian identity of occupied Al-Quds, adding that the Palestinians will confront the Zionist schemes.
For its part, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry issued a statement to condemn Ben-Gvir serious violation of Al-Aqsa sanctity, adding that the move indicates the extremist and aggressive policies of the new Zionist government.
Lapid: Visit Would ‘Cost Lives’
Earlier on Monday, opposition leader Yair Lapid slammed Ben Gvir’s intended visit warning that such move would “cost lives” and urged Netanyahu to prevent it.
“Itamar Ben Gvir must not go up to Temple Mount,” Lapid said at the outset of his Yesh Atid party’s weekly Knesset faction meeting. “It is a deliberate provocation that will put lives in danger and cost lives.”
“Weak though Netanyahu is, he must, this time, stand up and tell him, ‘You are not going to the Temple Mount. People will die,’” Lapid was quoted as saying by Israeli media.
Palestinian Martyred near Bethlehem
In another development, Israeli occupation forces killed a Palestinian teen in Dheisha refugee camp near Bethlehem.
Media coverage: “A military funeral is held in honor of Palestinian martyr Adam Ayyad, who was killed this morning by Israeli occupation forces in Dheisha refugee camp, in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem”. pic.twitter.com/iRpJN3uch6
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) January 3, 2023
Source: WAFA news agency
