‘Zionist Aggression’ – Terrorists Fume as 1,400 Jews Visit Temple Mount

By:  World Israel News Staff

Palestinian political leaders and terror groups released statements on Tuesday condemning Jewish visits to the Temple Mount – the holiest site in Judaism – during the ongoing Sukkot festival.

According to Hebrew-language media reports, some 1,400 Jewish pilgrims ascended to the Temple Mount on Monday, sparking anger from Muslims who believe the site should restrict all non-Islamic prayer and religious visits.

The Temple Mount is controlled by the Jordanian Islamic Waqf organization, with Jewish prayer forbidden at the compound.

During holiday periods, such as the current Sukkot festival, Jewish visitors are allowed to tour the site under police protection. They are often harassed and attacked by local Muslims.

Videos circulating on social media showed Muslims confronting Jews who had just left the site, chanting “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) and physically clashing with Jerusalem police.

The police released a statement on Monday, saying that terror groups were publishing “baseless lies and falsehoods” on social media about Jewish worshippers harassing Muslims on the Temple Mount.

The goal of these fake reports, the police said, is to increase tensions within the city and justify terror attacks.

“We will continue to operate in holy places to maintain security and order, enabling freedom of worship for all individuals, in accordance with the law and established practices,” the police said.

Several Palestinian terror groups said that they would seek revenge for the Jewish visits to the site.

“The Zionist enemy’s aggression against Al-Aqsa Mosque will not pass normally, and Palestinian anger will have a say,” threatened Hamas spokesman Muhammad Hamadeh.

“The occupation is wrong if it thinks that its aggression against al-Aqsa Mosque and the women will go unpunished.”

The Gaza-based Rebel Youth terror group, whose operatives have recently rioted along the border with Israel, shooting at soldiers and civilian communities, said in their own statement that the sheer presence of Jews on the Mount was akin to “terrorism” and “the ugly face of Zionist hatred.”

The group added that “these brutal Zionist crimes and attacks will not go unpunished, and will increase our determination to continue the path of jihad and resistance until comprehensive liberation, God willing.”

In other news, JNS.org reported that two Syrian soldiers were wounded by Israeli airstrikes on Monday night near Deir el-Zour in the eastern part of the country, according to Syrian state media.

The strikes targeted military assets and also caused “material damage,” according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.

Overnight Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces reportedly struck an Iranian weapons convoy close to Damascus destined for Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Those airstrikes targeted assets belonging to Tehran-backed groups in between the villages of Al-Assad and Al-Dimas, just west of the Syrian capital.

Last month, two people died near Beit Jinn, west of Damascus, in an airstrike attributed to Israel. On the same day, the IDF announced its tanks had struck two buildings the Syrian army constructed in the security zone between Israel and Syria on the Golan Heights.

Earlier in September, two Syrian soldiers were killed by Israeli airstrikes targeting a military site in the port of Tartus, where Russia maintains a naval base. Hours later, the Israeli Air Force carried out strikes in Hama, Syria, reportedly in the vicinity of the Scientific Studies and Research Center (known by its French acronym, CERS), which is involved in the production of chemical weapons as well as Hezbollah’s precision missile project.

(WorldIsraelNews.com & JNS.org)