Tensions ease as Israelis reopen Al-Aqsa Mosque gate

Muslims in Jerusalem on Tuesday celebrated the reopening of a gate inside Al-Aqsa Mosque following four days of confrontations.

Israeli security officials had closed the Bab Al-Rahmeh metal gate (also known as the Golden Gate) that leads to one of the prayer halls within the Haram Al-Sharif (Temple Mount) in Jerusalem. However, tensions eased after the status quo that existed before the closure was restored.

Wasfi Kailani, director of the Hashemite Fund for the Restoration of Al-Aqsa Mosque, told Arab News that the newly appointed Islamic Waqf Council had decided to enter the prayer hall declared a no-go area by Israel since 2003.

Israeli authorities took the move to be an act of defiance of its order banning entry to the site, which lies within the land that makes up the Muslim-owned Haram Al-Sharif/ Al-Aqsa Mosque. For years Jordan has been officially requesting permission to enter the prayer hall without any response from Israel.

Israeli police responded to the council’s move by chaining up the gate, causing an uproar among worshippers. Several arrests were made and all entrances to Al-Aqsa Mosque were closed.

Nasser Abu Sharif, a member of the Jordanian Waqf administration of the mosque, told Arab News that Israel had backed down and allowed Waqf officials to fix the broken gate and keep the keys to it.

“Everything has returned to how it was before, but there is now an Israeli soldier and a Waqf guard on the roof overlooking the Bab Al-Rahmeh gate,” Sharif said.

The Islamic Waqf Council met on Tuesday morning and announced in a press conference that the unilateral Israeli actions had been rescinded.

Sheikh Azzam Al-Khatib, the general director of the Jerusalem endowment and Al-Aqsa Mosque affairs department, said that Jordan’s efforts during the past few days to remove the chains and locks from the gate had paid off.