Ben Gvir (left) storms the Temple Mount in May 2023 (Reuters)
Israeli Channel 12 said that the War Council decided to withdraw the powers related to Al-Aqsa Mosque from the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, indicating that there will be no restrictions on the entry of internal Palestinians and Jerusalemites to the mosque during the month of Ramadan.
The channel quoted Israeli police commanders as saying that moving forward with approving Ben Gvir’s restrictions on entering Al-Aqsa during Ramadan may ignite Jerusalem and other cities.
Commenting on this, Ben Gvir said that he expects Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to deny these reports regarding his stripping of powers related to Al-Aqsa Mosque.
On the other hand, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid congratulated the War Council on its “correct” decision to withdraw those powers from Ben Gvir.
The Israeli government had announced that it would place some restrictions on the entry of worshipers into Al-Aqsa Mosque during the next month of Ramadan, “according to security conditions,” while press reports said that Netanyahu was moving to adopt the Ben Gvir plan in this regard, despite warnings from the security establishment that this might unite Muslims. On both sides of the green line and leads to an explosion of the situation.
The Palestinian forces warned the Israeli occupation against igniting a religious war, and called on the masses of people to travel to the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and to stay there.
Source: Al Jazeera + Israeli press