On Sunday, Jews returned to their holiest site, the Temple Mount, after a 12-day ban mandated by the Israeli government due to the Muslim Ramadan. However, when Jews returned to their holiest site, they were horrified to find piles of garbage and antiquities destroyed.
The conflict is focused on Shaar HaRachamim, the Gate of Mercy, also known as the Golden Gate. On Saturday, the Waqf (Muslim authority) claimed that Israeli police officers reportedly entered the site and removed electricity cables and construction materials.
The subterranean hall was locked in 2003 by court order after it was used as a meeting place for a Hamas-affiliated organization. In 2019, Palestinians illegally forced their way into the site and transformed it into a prayer hall.
The Waqf accused the Israeli authorities of “violating the sanctity of al-Aqsa Mosque.” It emphasized that the Bab al-Rahma prayer hall is an “original part of the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque”.
The Palestinian Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, decried the actions of the police.
“The mosque belongs only to Muslims,” he said. “We reject any [Israeli] attempt to interfere in the administration of the Islamic holy sites. We are opposed to any attempt to alter the status quo at the Haram al-Sharif.”
But much of the Arab activity at the site was clearly destructive.
Or Nehemia Aharonov, a resident of Givat Assaf, was among some of the first Jews to visit the site after the closure. He was shocked at what he found.
“There was garbage everywhere,” he said. “We also saw some of the ancient stone remnants that were broken and used to block the pathways used by Jews,” Nehemiah said.
Perhaps most distressing was the obvious neglect of ancient timbers adjacent to the Sha’ar HaRachamim. Adjacent to the site is a pile of timber covered in a tarpaulin. Though they appear to be debris and are treated as such by the Muslims, they date back to the period of the Jewish Temples.
Tom Nisani, CEO of the Beyadenu Temple Mount advocacy organization, told Israel365 News that when the Jews returned to the Temple Mount, they found massive amounts of litter scattered on the holy site.
“The Jordanian Waqf and Palestinians continue to use the loose and inconsistent policies of the Israeli authorities to their benefit as they blame Israel for desecrating the site,” Nisani told Israel365 News. “Jewish ascenders arrived at the Temple Mount after a 12-day closure to find the most sacred site in Judaism trashed and abused. We should be the ones complaining about desecration.”
“Unless we apply Israeli control and sovereignty on the Temple Mount, it matters very little how often we close the site as every act is considered a provocation,” he added/
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