Celebration Of Purim Increasing Tension Between Israelis & Palestinians Ahead Of Ramadan
Hamas called on Palestinians to confront Israeli Jews during Purim at the Temple Mount.
To commemorate the Jewish festival of Purim, the far-right Israeli Temple Organization on Monday urged settlers to plan large-scale, intense incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque’s courtyards on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The group said that during Purim, in addition to singing, dancing, and rejoicing at the Al-Aqsa gates, it intends to execute Talmudic and Biblical rites, read Biblical texts aloud, and assemble inside the Al-Aqsa courtyards.
Also, the group urged that Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s minister of national security, shut down Al-Aqsa Mosque to Palestinians for 10 days during the third week of Ramadan to make space for Jewish intrusions during the Jewish Passover.
Ben-Gvir made it apparent that he plans to block the Al-Aqsa Mosque for 10 days during Ramadan and to permit only Jews to visit the compound in words that have been published and attributed to him during his meeting with the chiefs of the Israeli police on Sunday.
The leader of Hamas’ external political bureau, Khaled Mashaal, issued a warning on Saturday night, saying that the area is “on the edge of boiling days” of bloodshed and that things would get worse during Ramadan.
“Due to the occupation’s ongoing crimes and aggression, things will get worse throughout Ramadan, and the Palestinian people are aware that the only way their country can be restored is through resistance in all of its manifestations”, according to Mashaal.
Insisting that “peace cannot be won without resistance, and it will not last without a force to safeguard it,” the Hamas leader urged the various Palestinian groups to unite.
Mashaal’s words came amid a wave of assaults and escalating tensions ahead of Ramadan, which begins at the end of March. In two separate assaults last week, three Israelis were killed.
On Sunday, Palestinian prisoner organizations said that they will “intensify” their protests against recent restrictions introduced in jails by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, such as refusing to undergo daily security inspections. The prisoners are planning to go on a hunger strike at the start of Ramadan.