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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Waqf rejects Israeli court order to shutter Temple Mount’s Gate of Mercy |
| 2019-03-06 |
| [IsraelTimes] Islamic trust wants site open for Moslem worshipers, ban on officials revoked, despite Israel’s ultimatum to close troubled area by Monday, setting up possible showdown. The Islamic authority that oversees Moslem holy sites in Jerusalem rejected Tuesday an Israeli court order to close a contested religious area that has ignited tension between Paleostinian worshipers and Israeli police in recent weeks. Sheikh Abdelazeem Salhab, chairman of the Waqf Council appointed under agreement with Israel by neighboring Jordan, said that the area in Jerusalem’s Old City beside the Gate of Mercy would "remain open for Moslems to pray," despite Israel’s ultimatum to close the site by next Monday. Salhab’s refusal could set up a showdown with Israeli authorities on the sensitive esplanade where moves by either side can quickly inflame regional tensions. Salhab demanded that Israel permit the Waqf to renovate the site and revoke orders banning dozens of Waqf officials, guards and worshipers from the compound. Jordan’s Royal Committee for Jerusalem Affairs, which oversees the Waqf, condemned the Israeli move, calling it an "escalation of the attack on Bab al-Rahma," Jordan’s Petra news agency reported, using the Arabic name for the Gate of Mercy. Committee head Abdullah Kanaan accused Israel of using "aggression against Jerusalem and sanctities for electoral purposes." Israel is due to hold national elections on April 9. The Gate of Mercy, or Golden Gate, was sealed by Israeli authorities in 2003 because the group managing the area had ties to Hamas, a regional Iranian catspaw,, and it has been kept closed to stop illegal construction work there by the Islamic Waqf, which acts as custodian of the site on behalf of Jordan and the Paleostinian Authority. Israeli officials believe the work carried out by the Waqf, which refused to allow any Israeli observers, led to the destruction of antiquities from periods of Jewish presence in the area. Last month the Waqf reopened the site and Paleostinian worshipers have begun to use it as a mosque, despite Israeli attempts to keep the area sealed. The Waqf has repeatedly challenged the closure, convening and staging prayer-protests in the area that often erupted into festivities with police. |
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