The Israeli far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s visit to the Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem on January 3 has again given rise to the prospect of renewed hostilities between Israel and Palestine.
The UN Security Council will be holding a meeting to discuss Israeli Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s controversial visit to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. It has drawn widespread condemnation from the Muslim world and criticism from the west. A coalition of Arab nations spoke out against Israel at the United Nations, ahead of an emergency meeting of the Security Council to discuss Israeli-Palestinian relations.
The session will discuss the Israeli minister’s visit. The emergency meeting was formally requested by the United Arab Emirates in China on behalf of the Palestinian and Jordanian new admissions.
The Palestinian envoy to the UN, Riyad Mansour, said, “We want this behavior not to be repeated at Al-Aqsa Mosque and then Haram Sharif, and we want a guarantee of honoring and respecting the historic status indeed, not only in words.” This is the message that you see, as they say, “A picture speaks much louder than a thousand words.”
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holy site in Islam and the most sacred place to Jews who refer to it is Temple Mount. Under the current status quo, non-Muslims can visit the site at specific times but are not allowed to pray there. Turkey is the latest to join the list of nations condemning Ben-Gvir’s visit to the Al-Aqsa compound. The Turkish Foreign Minister called it a provocative action that was unacceptable.
Jordan’s Ambassador to the UN, Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud, also condemned the move. He said, “There has to be a firm stand by the international community against this because it will happen again, and once it does, a new cycle of violence will ensue.”
Itamar Ben-Gvir’s visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque caused outrage not just among Palestinians even Western Government have warned that such moves threaten the fragile state to score Jerusalem’s holy sites. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on all to refrain from steps that could escalate tensions in and around the holy sites. Even Germany urged everyone to avoid actions that could increase tensions.
The UAE and Morocco, which established diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020, spoke out against Ben-Gvir’s visit to the Al-Aqsa compound. Israeli officials say that the quarter hour visit took place with an arrangement which allows non-Muslims to visit on condition. In an apparent effort to calm anger over the visit, an official in the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said the premier was fully committed to the status quo that allows only Muslim worship at the site.
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