Hamas factions are threatening Israel with renewed violence over recent attempts by a few people to perform a biblical Passover Sacrifice ritual on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The threats come as Israel prepares for the start of the Passover holiday Friday night, which falls out this year during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in which the devout fast every day in the daytime.
However, a source in the Gaza Strip told TPS on Thursday that the Israeli government sent a message to Hamas through the Egyptians saying that it will not allow anyone to perform Biblically-mandated sacrifices on the Temple Mount. This came after a number of arrests were made of those Israelis who were trying to do just that.
In Gaza they say that Hamas has no interest in new tensions on the southern front and, in light of this, on Wednesday night various factions entered into a non-binding agreement to that effect. It was the fear, they believe, that the factions had intended to plan a renewal of fighting that caused Israel to prevent the people from performing sacrifices.
A source in the Gaza Strip told TPS, “The statement by Prime Minister Bennett’s spokesman regarding opposing allowing the performance of sacrifices on the Temple Mount came shortly after the factions announced their intention to meet and that this was seen as a threat that meeting and therefore believe the threat was received in Jerusalem.”
However, such activities were already prohibited under Israeli law and Israeli security forces would have prevented the people from ascending the Temple Mount in any event.
And another a source in the Gaza Strip told TPS, “There is a possibility that Islamic Jihad will force Hamas to operate out of the Gaza Strip due to the increasing pressure on its people in Jenin and the killing of two more of its operatives [by Israeli forces] Wednesday.”
Zahar Jabarin, Hamas’ deputy leader in the West Bank, made threats of renewed violence in an interview with the media. “Breaking into al-Aqsa (the Temple Mount) will bring a response from all Palestinian organizations, including in Israeli territory,” he said. “The campaign will be a regional campaign that will not be limited to the territories of Palestine. The occupation is testing our ability to defend Jerusalem and we have already proven this ability and now it stands in the way of the intention of eight extreme right-wing Jewish organizations to make sacrifices in Al-Aqsa Square. ”
Again, such threats are unnecessary as there was never any real possibility of such sacrifices being performed.
