Even as radical Islamist extremists continue to do their best clog the traffic arteries around the Old City of Jerusalem, truly faithful Muslims are quietly making their way back to prayers at Al Aqsa Mosque.
“Since the opening of the Temple Mount on Sunday, Muslim worshipers have continued to arrive and enter the Temple Mount area, 24 hours a day,” Israel Police said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.
“At the same time, visits by tourists and Jews are taking place during regular visiting hours as usual.
“During the day (Tuesday, July 18) two Jewish visitors who violated the rules of the Temple Mount were removed by police and detained for questioning by officers from the David District,” the statement continued.
“The Israel Police continues to act in order to enable a safe return and routine in the Temple Mount area, at the entrance to the compound, and in the area itself.”
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman of Saudi Arabia personally intervened in the Temple Mount crisis over the weekend via the United States, according to a report posted Tuesday by the Arabic-language Elaph website, based in London.
The decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top Israeli security officials late Saturday night to reopen the holy site to Muslim worshipers, visitors and tourists allegedly came after receiving a message from the Saudi monarch via the White House.
The Saudi king expressed no reservations about Israel’s decision to upgrade security by installing metal detectors at the entrances to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount in the wake of the terror attack last Friday that left two Israeli policemen dead and others wounded.