Jerusalem Waqf Official Warns Israel Moving from Temporary Provocation to Imposing Permanent Judaization at Al-Aqsa

Fakhri Abu Diab, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, has warned of escalating Israeli plans aimed at changing the Islamic identity of Al-Aqsa and imposing a permanent Judaized reality inside it.

Abu Diab stressed that the occupation has moved from the stage of raids and temporary provocations to an attempt to entrench Jewish practices and rituals as part of the mosque’s religious and historical reality.

Abu Diab said the occupation and settlement groups are inventing new occasions and pretexts to storm Al-Aqsa, even in months that see no Torah holidays or occasions, as part of a policy aimed at violating the sanctity of the mosque and imposing a Jewish identity on it.

He explained that the occupation exploited recent Torah holidays and occasions to bring about dangerous shifts, as raids and the performance of Talmudic rituals are no longer passing practices but have turned into attempts to impose and cement permanent facts on the ground, paving the way for a Jewish religious identity to replace the Islamic one.

Curtailing the powers of the Awqaf

Abu Diab noted that the occupation has gone a long way in imposing Judaization facts inside Al-Aqsa by greatly curtailing the powers of the Islamic Awqaf Department and attempting to end its actual role in managing the mosque’s affairs.

He pointed out that the occupation authorities are working to transfer administrative and field powers to the occupation police and to make way for the so-called “Temple organizations” and “Temple groups” to intervene, considering this a coup against the existing historical and religious status quo.

He believed that what is happening reflects the occupation’s transition from protecting the raiders to direct participation in imposing Judaization practices, as the occupation police have become part of the system that carries out the violations and provides the conditions to expand them, granting the raiders unprecedented facilities to bring Israeli tools, symbols and flags into the mosque’s courtyards.

A political incubator for escalation

Abu Diab said one of the most dangerous drivers of escalation is the presence of an Israeli political and governmental incubator that adopts the Judaization project and provides full support to extremist groups, quoting the current government, which has far-right tendencies, as being directly involved in implementing this agenda and harnessing state capabilities to serve plans to remove Al-Aqsa and establish the so-called Temple in its place.

In the same context, he said the occupation continues to implement a systematic policy of emptying Al-Aqsa of worshippers, scholars, preachers, callers and those stationed at the mosque, through deportation orders, restrictions and entry constraints, in tandem with an increase in the numbers of settler raiders, to create a distorted reality that gives the raiders greater ability to impose their practices under military protection.

Jerusalem and its surroundings

Abu Diab explained that Israeli plans do not target Al-Aqsa alone but extend to the city of Jerusalem and its Arab and Islamic surroundings through measures aimed at creating an environment that drives Jerusalemites away and pushes them to leave their city.

He noted that the occupation is exercising continuous economic, political, social and cultural pressure, alongside tightening the issuance of building permits, demolishing homes, displacing families and pursuing residents.

He pointed out that the occupation authorities are harnessing their capabilities to bring about demographic, urban and cultural changes in the city, in tandem with an escalation in excavation work and tunnel digging, exploiting the world’s preoccupation with conflicts and wars to accelerate its Judaization projects amid the absence of Arab, Islamic and international deterrence.

He stressed that Jerusalemites continue to stand firm on their land despite the severity of the measures and the harsh economic, social and humanitarian burdens they impose.

He considered that protecting Al-Aqsa requires serious action that goes beyond statements of condemnation and denunciation and preserves the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem as the essential incubator of the mosque and the first line of defense of its identity, warning that the continuation of current policies places Al-Aqsa and the city of Jerusalem before an extremely dangerous phase.