The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, in power in the Gaza Strip, warned on Tuesday against a military escalation during Ramadan in the event of Israeli "
transgression
" on the esplanade of the Mosques in Jerusalem.
This warning comes less than ten days before the start of the Muslim holy month, while the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seems to be entering a new spiral of violence since the entry into office at the end of December of one of the most right-wing governments of the history of Israel.
Hamas has 'no plans for escalation'
According to excerpts from an "
interview
" published on the official Hamas website in English, the movement's number two, Salah al-Arouri, indicates that the risk of escalation during Ramadan "
depends solely on Israeli violations across the Palestine and the Al-Aqsa Mosque
”, in East Jerusalem, occupied and annexed by Israel.
Hamas “
has no plans to escalate
” during Ramadan, adds the site, a precision that does not appear in the original verbatim in Arabic of the remarks of Mr. Arouri, in exile for years.
Tensions on the esplanade of the Mosques
The Al-Aqsa Mosque is located on the Esplanade of the Mosques, the third holiest site in Islam, built on what the Jews call the Temple Mount, the holiest place in Judaism.
The place is at the heart of Israeli-Palestinian tensions, especially during Ramadan given the restrictions Israel imposes on Palestinians who would like to come and pray there.
Under a status quo decreed by Israel after the conquest of the eastern part of the Holy City in 1967, non-Muslims can go to the esplanade of the Mosques at specific times but not pray there.
In recent years, a growing number of Jews, often nationalists, surreptitiously pray there, which the Palestinians and Jordan - guardian of the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem - qualify as "provocations", regularly condemned by many Arab,
Muslim
and or Western.
If Israel makes it more difficult for Muslims to access the esplanade of the Mosques or facilitates access for Jews during Ramadan, "
this could trigger action on the part of the Palestinians
", warns Salah al-Arouri.
In early January, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a figure on the far right, briefly visited the esplanade of the Mosques, raising a wave of international condemnation, including from the United States, allies of Israel. Israel.
The Israeli government then assured that it had no intention of changing the 1967 status quo. In September 2000, the visit to the esplanade of the Mosques by Ariel Sharon, then leader of the Israeli opposition, was one of triggers of the Second Intifada, the Palestinian uprising of 2000-2005.