Ramallah: The Israeli regime has started to allow Jewish groups to enter Al Haram Al Sharif twice a day. According to Israeli Channel 2, Temple Institute and other ultra-orthodox groups can visit, provided they prepare daily lists with a maximum of 45 names. Israeli occupation forces will provide security to the Jewish worshippers who will be allowed to visit between the time of the Muslim Fajr (morning) prayer to 11:30am. The afternoon visit will start after Duhr (noon) prayers and will last two hours. The new plan is being introduced to appease Jewish worshippers who insist on praying at the Muslim holy site, where they believe the Jewish Temple Mount was built on.
Jewish raids on Al Haram Al Sharif have provoked Palestinian and Muslim sentiments triggering over a month of violence which has killed around 90 Palestinians and a handful of Israelis.
They accuse the Israeli regime of encouraging such behaviour which goes against the status quo.
Under a status-quo agreement, Jews are allowed to visit the site but not perform religious rituals. Colonists however have raided the holy site several times over the past month and performed prayers, angering Palestinians who say Israel has plans to Judaise occupied east Jerusalem and Al Haram Al Sharif.
Despite the new plan, Jewish groups are still complaining calling the limitation on numbers ‘unfair’.
“The Israeli regime does not want to prevent Jews from accessing the site but it also is trying to limit further escalation,” sources in occupied east Jerusalem told Gulf News.
They say the plan will actually do little to calm the situation as it does not prevent Jews from entering but only organises the numbers and timings to avoid direct confrontations.
