Israeli Illegal Settlers Call for Animal Sacrifice Ceremony at Al-Aqsa Complex

Jerusalem, MINA – A group of illegal Israeli settlers asked their supporters to bring live animals to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound next week and slaughter them for sacrifice at the Jewish Passover celebration.

The extremist Temple Mount movement called on its followers Tuesday evening to gather at the entrance to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the eve of the Jewish Passover holiday, which takes place on April 5.

Followers were asked to bring animals to be slaughtered inside the Al-Aqsa compound, the third holiest site in Islam and an area where non-Muslim prayers and rituals are banned under a longstanding agreement.

Sheikh Omar Al Kiswani, Director of Al-Aqsa Mosque, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, the Arabic edition of The New Arab, that the announcement was “very dangerous”.

He swore that the mosque authorities would stop the settlers from carrying out sacrifices.

“This is what we convey to the occupation, and we demand that they control their extremist settlers,” he said.

Political analyst Rasem Obeidat warned that this casualty event would cause an “explosion” of tensions at the gates of the Al-Aqsa compound.

“If they carry out threats with the support of an extremist government, things can explode across the Palestinian territories, like the battle for Saif Al-Qud which took place in May 2021. It could actually happen on a wider scale which could lead to a regional war,” said Obeidat, which refers to the 10-day conflict between Hamas and Israel in 2021 triggered by Israeli police attacks on worshipers in Al-Aqsa.

Dozens of Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the early hours of Wednesday morning, which has become a regular occurrence at the Islamic holy site.

They often enter under heavy police protection to provoke Muslim worshipers and perform rituals at the compound which is under Jordanian control.

This comes amid an increase in violence in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, following the formation of a right-wing government in Israel. At least 90 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in 2023 alone. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)