” … a fragile ceasefire holds in the besieged Gaza Strip, days after the end of a brutal 11-day Israeli bombing campaign that killed at least 248 people, including 66 children.
An Israeli police crackdown on worshippers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during Ramadan and the threat of forced expulsions of Palestinians from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem had ignited protests across the occupied Palestinian territories, which were cracked down by Israeli police as well.
Hamas, the group that controls the Gaza Strip, issued Israel a deadline to halt the crackdowns. The deadline passed unheeded, resulting in Hamas firing rockets towards Israel, and Israel launching an intensive bombing campaign on Gaza.
Hours after a truce took effect, Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound after Friday prayers.
In recent days, hardline Israeli settler groups have raised calls on social media for Jewish worshippers to enter the premises. The groups’ objective is to rebuild the Third Jewish Temple on the grounds of Al-Aqsa Mosque, according to their websites.
But under the status quo affirmed in 1967, only Muslims can pray within al-Haram al-Sharif.
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the site was open for “regular visits” and that police had secured the area to prevent “incidents”, without elaborating, the Associated Press reported.
The Waqf said on Sunday it was the first time Israel allowed Jewish settlers to visit the site since May 4, a week before the latest conflict broke out.
In recent years, increasing numbers of religious and far-right Israelis have visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Palestinians fear Israel plans to eventually take the compound over or partition it. The Israeli government has repeatedly said it has no intention of changing the status quo, under which the Waqf oversees the site.
Comment: it seems obvious that Natanyahu’s government is intent on provoking Hamas with the goal of renewing hostilities. This is probably quite clever in Israeli politics. Bibi is threatened with prison if he is ejected from office and it would fill him with joy if he can dominate Biden and humiliate him further. pl
From the article:
“Dozens of Jewish settlers, flanked by heavily armed Israeli special forces, entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem in the early morning, further raising tensions hours after Palestinian worshippers were beaten and assaulted by Israeli police, according to the Islamic authority overseeing the site.”
If you are an American on the political right and protest unarmed at a center of government with the intention of defending your nation’s constitution, you are labelled a domestic terrorist and jailed.
If you are an Israeli on the political right and protest at a center of religious worship with the intention of inciting violence, you do so with the government’s blessing and get an armed escort.
Humiliating Biden to show who is the boss about JCPoA. Palestinians are just pawns in this fight beetwen “friends”. Always the poor suffer what they must.
The Iranians will eventually get their nuke. They already have the missiles. With a state like Israel, having nuke is the only way out.
I believe that the Iranians are being straight when they say they don’t want nukes. Of course, they may change their minds if they come to the conclusion that having them is an imperative for their security. Either way, I think that Israels situation becomes increasingly untenable; it’s only a matter of when the seculars and the young decide it’s no longer worth the candle, and they’ll dust off their passports for Western countries and perhaps also Russia.
“Israels situation becomes increasingly untenable…”,
Okay, sure.
Will we see it? Giving a date would be fortune-telling with a crystal ball. For now rivers of blood and hatred have full sails. When choice will be between suitcase or coffin, it’s the end.
And then young izzies and Palestinians could get smart. Cooperation is the answer to today’s questions. Not the only one, let’s trust.
However, hope is low, we must be realistic.
Something that strikes me as also becoming potentially untenable is the grand alliance between the Saudis Gulfies and Israel against Iran. The decision to march on the Dome of the Rock may get Bibi a majority government but also puts the Saudis, as Israel’s ally, in a difficult position vis a vis Islam.
Will it cause the Saudis to consider putting some effort into those feelers they say are out there seeking to bury the hatchet with Iran? Seems likely.
Bibi has no fear of being called out for transparently wagging the dog, or any fear of being portrayed as doing so out of apprehension that his corruption would be exposed. That’s why he’s wagging the dog.
I am quite sure that if any attempt were to be made by Biden along those lines, his own corrupt actions and practices would be painted across the sky in Technicolor. With the penetration of all institutions in the US by the zionists, they probably possess an exquisite level of information about US corruption, not only concerning Biden, but also inclusive of the entire rogues gallery of Our Political Elites.
The Samson Option, pulling down the supports of the DC whorehouse, must be well understood. Checkmate.
The 3rd Temple idea is a ship that sailed many centuries ago. What would happen there? Would Judaism return to a religion of animal sacrifice? Which denomination would administer the Temple?