Did Israel attack the Al Aqsa mosque? 
21 April 2022

This past week – as expected – there has been conflict on the Temple Mount during the Islamic festival of Ramadan. This follows weeks of unrest, including a series of terror attacks in which 14 Israelis have been killed, resulting in severe Israeli crack-downs in the West Bank. 
 
As expected, the latest rumblings have been fomented by extreme elements in Palestinian society seeking to provoke conflict with Israeli police and thus provide an alibi for Hamas to fire rockets from Gaza to “defend Jerusalem”. This was the scenario that triggered the last major conflict with Hamas a year ago (May 2021).  
 
In recent days Israeli police have entered the Al Aqsa Mosque to dispel violence. Predictably, Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and Islamic leaders worldwide have accused Israel of aggression. Others, like Russian President Vladimir Putin, have accused Israel of violating the “status quo”. 

Early this morning, the IDF carried out air raids in Gaza in response to rocket fire and anti-aircraft missiles launched from the Hamas-run enclave. Hamas threatens to escalate the conflict. 

The Temple Mount (al-Haram al-Sharīf) is in the centre of Jerusalem. It is believed to be on Mount Moriah, where Abraham almost sacrificed his son Isaac. It is here that the Jewish people built their first (957BCE) and second (352BCE) temples. Christians built a church there in the 6^th century CE. The Islamic mosques on this site were built in the 7^th and 8^th centuries CE. 

The site is the most sacred place for Jews as the location of the biblical temples, and al-Aqsa Mosque, which sits atop the Temple Mount, is the third-holiest site for Muslims.

While this small piece of real estate is deeply significant to Jews, Christians and Muslims, since the time of the crusaders, the Temple Mount has been an Islamic Waqf (Islamic trust). After Israel took control of the Old City of Jerusalem in the Six Day War (June 1967), the waqf has been (with Israel’s agreement) governed by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, supervised by the Kingdom of Jordan, on behalf of the Islamic world (umma). 

Since 1967, Israel has exercised sovereignty over the area (as part of the undivided city of Jerusalem), and retains security control. But the Muslim world claims spiritual and practical control. This means non-Muslims have limited access to the Temple Mount. Out of respect for Muslims, Israeli police even prohibit Jews from praying on the Temple Mount. Many Jews are upset with this rule, as they wish to be able to visit and pray freely on this holy site. 

At this very sensitive time, let us pray ever more fervently – and literally - for the Peace of Jerusalem. 

 
Ryan Jones at Israel Today reports: “Israel protects freedom of worship above anything else and that’s why we needed to get rid of the troublemakers so that the rest of the peaceful Muslim pilgrims could come and pray as they normally do every single Friday,” says Jerusalem’s Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum on BBC.  

Nadav Shragai at JNS: “Far from ‘invading’ mosque, as Ra’am, Hamas, the Joint Arab List and the P.A. claim, Israel appears to have been overly sensitive and considerate when responding to rioters there.”

The Story of Lyuba Yolkina from Odessa – First Home Update

Valeria Zakharova at C4I: “Lyuba Yolkina and her 2-year-old daughter Nastia from Odessa fled the war and found a shelter in kibbutz Mashabei Sade. The path to a new life took them more than 2 weeks. Lyuba’s mom and sister have already joined her in the First Home in the Homeland Program.”