DaysofPal- For the 24th consecutive day, Israeli occupation forces continue to close the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, citing a state of emergency declared in parallel with the joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran.
This comes amid increasing security restrictions in the Old City of Jerusalem and its surroundings.
As the closure continues, Israeli forces have prevented the holding of Eid prayers inside Al-Aqsa and have assaulted worshippers in the streets and at checkpoints near the mosque.
Meanwhile, calls continue urging people not to leave Al-Aqsa alone, especially amid reports suggesting that settlers intend to perform ritual sacrifices inside the compound.
Calls by extremist Temple groups in the Israeli occupation to impose the so-called Passover sacrifice inside Al-Aqsa Mosque, coinciding with the approaching Jewish holiday of Passover in early April, have raised widespread fears of attempts to carry out this Talmudic ritual within the compound.
Observers believe this could represent a dangerous turning point in the nature of the conflict over Al-Aqsa Mosque and an attempt to impose new religious realities within it.
For his part, Jerusalem affairs researcher Ziad Ibhis stated that the growing calls by Temple groups to enforce the Passover sacrifice inside Al-Aqsa cannot be understood in isolation from political shifts within the Israeli occupation.
In statements to Palestine Online, Ibhis said that these groups were once relatively marginal but have now moved closer to the center of political decision-making. He explained that the alliance between the religious nationalist current and the far-right within the Israeli government has given Temple groups greater freedom of movement.
The presence of figures sympathetic to these ideas within the police and various ministries has made it difficult to separate their activities from official policies.”
Ibhis added that the role of Israeli police in Jerusalem has become a decisive factor in determining what may happen at Al-Aqsa Mosque, noting:
The police are no longer merely a security body regulating entry to Al-Aqsa; they have increasingly become a tool for imposing new realities, whether by facilitating settler incursions or by restricting Palestinian worshippers.
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