The US has called on Israel to permit Muslims to pray at the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem during the holy month of Ramadan after a right-wing minister suggested barring Palestinians from the West Bank from the compound.
“We continue to encourage Israel to allow peaceful worshipers to access Temple Mount in accordance with past practices during the holy month of Ramadan,” said Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the state department. “This is not only about giving people the religious freedom they deserve and that they have a right to, but it is also about Israel’s security, and it is not in their interest to create more tension in the West Bank and in the wider region.”
Israel has been considering how to conduct worship in Jerusalem during the holy month, which begins on March 10 or March 11, according to the lunar calendar. Ramadan, the holy month of fasting, begins as Israel continues its intensive military campaign against the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an October 7 attack by Hamas. In a televised statement Wednesday, Haniyeh called for a mass prayer on al-Aqsa at the start of the holy month. “We call on our people in Jerusalem, in the West Bank, and in the occupied interior of (Israel) to travel to the holy place of prayer, in groups or on their own, from the very first day of the holy month of Ramadan, to break the siege of the holy place,” he said. Last week, Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who leads a hard-line party, said that West Bank residents should not be allowed to enter Jerusalem to pray during the holy month. The United States has been pushing for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip before Ramadan begins, with the aim of freeing the hostages taken on October 7.
According to the most recent numbers from Gaza’s health ministry, the israeli military operation has killed at least 29,954 individuals, the majority of whom are women and children.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden announced on NBC that Israel has agreed not to conduct military operations in Gaza during Ramadan. Biden made this announcement during his appearance on Monday.
In remarks filmed on Monday and broadcast on Tuesday, the US president claimed that the two sides had reached a deal in principle for a truce until hostages were released.
“Ramadan is approaching, and the Israelis have agreed not to engage in activities throughout Ramadan in order to provide us time to get all the hostages out,” he said.
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