Faced with Palestinians’ wrath, intl. outcry, Israel says committed to al-Aqsa status quo

Faced with weeks-long bloody protests by Palestinians and vehement international reactions to its aggression against the holy al-Aqsa Mosque, now the occupying regime of Israel says it is “committed” to the status quo at the mosque and nothing will change about it.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said on Sunday that Israel was “committed” to the status quo governing the al-Aqsa Mosque compound preventing Jews from praying at the mosques, the AFP reported.

“Muslims pray on the Temple Mount, non-Muslims only visit,” Lapid said, using the Jewish term for the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Lapid’s comments follow weeks of Israeli violence in Palestine as tensions further built up by the clashes in occupied al-Quds and consequent exchanges of fire between Israel and Palestinian resistance groups in the Gaza Strip.

As per a long-standing convention, Jews may visit the al-Aqsa Mosque compound but are not allowed to pray. However, an uptick in Jewish visits to the mosque has angered Palestinian Muslims and led to protests, which were met with Israeli forces’ brutal attacks on the protesters.

Lapid told journalists that nothing will change in the mosque and there are no plans to make any divisions.

“There is no change, there will be no change – we have no plans to divide the Temple Mount between religions,” he claimed.

The Israeli foreign minister also said Israel was committed to letting Muslims pray at the site, claiming that hundreds of thousands had done so throughout Ramadan.

TV: Israel preparing for possible flare-up in Gaza Strip

Israeli military forces are preparing for the possibility of a flare-up with fighters from Gaza-based Palestinian resistance groups amid reprated acts of aggression against the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Nonetheless, Palestinian officials and resistance groups have repeatedly voiced concerns over the Israeli regime’s plot to divide al-Aqsa into Jewish and Muslim sections or set visiting times.

Israeli forces have repeatedly attacked Palestinian worshipers at the site since early April, with the onset of the holy month of Ramadan which coincided with Jewish Passover.

More than 150 Palestinian worshipers were injured when Israeli forces stormed the compound in the holy occupied city of al-Quds’ Old City last week. The forces have kept up their violations on the flashpoint site besides cracking down on solidarity protests throughout the occupied West Bank.

The clashes in al-Quds had sparked fears of another armed conflict similar to an 11-day war last year between Israel and Gaza-based Palestinian resistance groups, including Hamas.

Israel waged the war last May in response to Palestinian retaliation against violent raids on worshipers at al-Aqsa Mosque and the regime’s plans to force a number of Palestinian families out of their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East al-Quds.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, 260 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli offensive, including 66 children and 40 women.

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