For the first time, the storming of the Al Aqsa Mosque by illegal Jewish settlers in occupied East Jerusalem will be financed by the Israeli government, according to the country’s media.
“The office of Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu – an extremist known for his anti-Palestinian position – will finance the project with $545,000 that is supposed to be implemented in the coming weeks,” Israel’s public broadcaster KAN cited a statement from the minister as saying.
KAN further reported that the Heritage Ministry is liaising with far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s National Security Ministry in order to obtain Israeli police permission for the settlers’ funded tours at Al Aqsa. Earlier in the day, Ben-Gvir announced that Jews are entitled to pray at Al Aqsa Mosque and plan to build a synagogue at the contentious site.
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In turn, the Palestinian resistance group Hamas warned that Israel’s decision to fund these incursions into the third holiest site in Islam represents a “dangerous escalation” that could provoke a “religious war.”.
This extremist fascist government is playing with fire, as it does not care about the repercussions of its Zionist behavior in violating the sanctity, status, and identity of the blessed Al Aqsa Mosque in our Arab and Islamic nation,” Hamas said.
Hamas has previously cited Israeli violations at the Al Aqsa Mosque as a motive for its attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
