Israel’s al-Aqsa restriction part of ‘systematic displacement, Judaization’: Islamic Jihad

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance movement has censured the Israeli regime’s plan to impose restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, warning that the ban is part of the occupying entity’s plan of systematic displacement and Judaization of the sacred site.

The resistance group condemned the Israeli plan in a statement on Monday after Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his intention to limit Palestinians’ access to the mosque during Ramadan.

Calling the Israeli plan “aggressive,” the Islamic Jihad said the restriction indicates that the occupation regime has “placed al-Aqsa Mosque under direct targeting as part of a systematic displacement and Judaization plan.”

The movement stressed that Netanyahu’s far-right cabinet seeks to carry out the plan and impose it “within the framework of the ongoing war of genocide and ethnic cleansing” against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

The occupation’s plan is “directed not only at the Palestinian people, but rather it is an aggression against the Arab and Islamic nations and their sanctities, and it is encouraged by the weak positions of the normalizing regimes in the region,” the statement said.

The Islamic Jihad called on the Palestinian people and the Arab and Islamic nations “to take action at all levels, and by all means, in defense of their sanctities in the occupied territories, most notably the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque.”

Earlier, the Gaza-based Palestinian Hamas resistance movement also underlined that Netanyahu’s intention to restrict the entry of Palestinians into al-Aqsa Mosque was an “extension” of Israeli crimes and would culminate in an “outburst of anger.”

Israel’s Channel 13 revealed that Netanyahu’s announcement came after his approval of far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s proposal to restrict the entry of Palestinians into al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied Old City of al-Quds during Ramadan, which is expected to begin on or around March 10.

The approval was made despite warnings by Israel’s so-called internal security service, Shin Bet, that restricting the entry of Palestinian worshipers would cause major security problems.

The Shin Bet and the Israeli military have proposed allowing Palestinians aged 45 and over to enter al-Aqsa Mosque, while the regime’s police force proposed allowing only those over the age of 60 to enter the sacred place.

Since the onset of its brutal aggression on the Gaza Strip in October last year, the Israeli regime has restricted Palestinian Muslims’ access to al-Aqsa Mosque, especially on Fridays.

Israel ignited its bloody war machine on October 7 after Hamas-led Palestinian resistance groups carried out a historic operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

So far, the occupying regime has killed over 29,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured about 70,000 others.

The Tel Aviv regime has imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.