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According to Israel's
Public Security Minister Tzahi Hanegbi Jewish groups may be planning
to carry out attacks on sacred Islamic shrines in occupied East
Jerusalem.
Hanegbi warned of the consequent dangers of attacking Al-Alqsa
Mosque by Israeli right-wing extremists.
Al-Aqsa Mosque and the
Dome of the Rock are collectively known as al-Haram al-Sharif (Noble
Sanctuary). Originally built in CE711 (AD711), al-Aqsa Mosque is
Islam's third holiest place, after the two Holy Mosques in Saudi
Arabia.
Hanegbi confirmed that
the security establishment had identified rising intent among
right-wing extremists to carry out an attack against Al-Aqsa mosque
“the Noble Sanctuary” to foil the so called purported Sharon’s
disengagement plan.
He added that the information were gathered by the Israeli security
service and the Shin Beit
“There is a danger that [extremists] would make use of the most
explosive site, in the hope that a chain reaction would bring about
the destruction of the peace process," Hanegbi indicated.
Muslim leaders in Palestine have warned of "unforeseeable
consequences" and "horrible repercussions" all over the world in
case "anything happened to al-Aqsa Mosque".
"This is the ultimate
red line. If Jewish terrorists embarked on such an act of sheer
madness, they would trigger huge fires all over the world … . Only
God knows how the fires would be extinguished," said Kamal al-Khatib,
deputy head of Israel's powerful Islamic Movement.
According to al-Khatib
an attack on al-Aqsa Mosque would be viewed as an appalling
provocation by the world's Muslim population.
If such a thing
happened, God forbid, it would galvanise the world's 1.2 billion
Muslims, and there would be a backlash and anger all over the
world."
Al-Khatib said the
Islamic Movement in Israel remained vigilant against the risk of an
attack on the Islamic holy places in Jerusalem.
"We send thousands of
people to the Haram al-Sharif every day to make up for the barring
by Israel of our people from the West Bank and Gaza Strip from
accessing the mosque … and we see to it that there are no loopholes
in security arrangements," he said.
Security sources on Saturday night said possible actions included an
attempt to crash a drone packed with explosives on the Temple Mount,
or a manned suicide attack with a light aircraft during mass Muslim
worship on the Mount. Other possibilities include an attempt by
right-wing extremists to assassinate a prominent Temple Mount Muslim
leader, perhaps from the Waqf Islamic trust.
Hanigbi’s remarks came in advance to wash his hands of any attempt
to attack the most holiest place for the Arabs and Moslems alike by
claiming they do the best to prevent such attack but no avail.
Hanegbi said in a TV
interview at the weekened that the goal of the potential attackers
would be to thwart the Israeli plan for unilateral withdrawal from
the Gaza Strip.
But a former leader of
an armed Jewish group that sought to bomb al-Aqsa Mosque in the late
1970s, told the Israeli state-run radio on Sunday the purpose of any
"new action" would not to have anything to do with the
"disengagement plan".
The Israeli newspaper
Haaretz on Sunday quoted officials in the domestic intelligence
service, Shin Bet, as saying there was a possibility of Jewish
hardliners trying to destroy al-Aqsa Mosque by crashing a
radio-controlled plane into it.
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