Ramadan risks in the heart of Jerusalem

EUGENIO GARCIA GASCON

With the beginning of Ramadan, the occupied sector of Jerusalem has become a true military and police barracks, and something similar has happened with all the territories of the occupied West Bank, where these days 24 battalions of soldiers are deployed in charge of protecting Jewish colonies from Palestinian attacks.

With the arrival of Ramadan, tension automatically increases, particularly in Jerusalem, and this year is no exception, especially if we consider that it coincides with the war in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Hamas is interested in whipping up Palestinians, including those in Israel, to provoke clashes with occupation forces and sow chaos.

On the eve of Ramadan, Netanyahu said he wanted to guarantee freedom of worship, that is, allowing all Muslims who wish to enter the Mosque Esplanade. However, in the few days since then, police and soldiers have limited access to large numbers of Muslims, especially young people, saying they want to cause unrest.

Within the cabinet there is a struggle in which extremist ministers, that is, the most nationalist and religious, such as Itamar Ben Gvir, defend radical positions that limit prayers on the Esplanade as much as possible. In this fight Netanyahu wants to appear moderate to the outside, although words are one thing and actions another.

The Israeli authorities assure that Hamas has not wanted to reach a ceasefire agreement and a prisoner exchange because it wants popular uprisings to occur in the Arab world during Ramadan, and especially in the occupied territories. This would be the main objective of Hamas leader in Gaza Yahiya Sinwar.

In a statement released on the eve of Ramadan, Prime Minister Netanyahu's office said: "Right now Hamas is clinging to its position, has no interest in reaching an agreement and is seeking to burn the region at the expense of the population." Palestinian from the Gaza Strip. These types of accusations are not new, but they have accumulated in recent days with the intention of justifying the enormous police deployment and what may happen.

In the first days of Ramadan, the number of incidents in Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank has been limited, although most of the month still lies ahead, and tempers usually flare as the days progress, especially when The end of Ramadan is approaching and the Night of Destiny holiday has arrived. At these heights it is easier for incidents to occur.

Curiously, in recent weeks it has been the intelligence services, the Shin Bet and the Mossad, that have asked Israeli politicians to facilitate Muslim access to the Mosque Esplanade. According to intelligence services, Ramadan will pass more peacefully if movement is provided for prayer.

However, the political class does not see these issues in the same way. A key figure is Minister Ben Gvir, responsible for the Police, who has demanded all kinds of restrictions. Ben Gvir regularly makes inflammatory statements on a daily basis, and periodically goes up to the Esplanade of the Mosques to deliberately provoke Palestinian public opinion. But his votes are key to sustaining the government, so Netanyahu has to respect his proposals.

On the first day of Ramadan, the police announced the arrest of several elements of a Hamas-led cell in the northern West Bank. The agents seized four weapons with which the cell was preparing to commit attacks inside Israel, according to the police.

It is still early to know under what conditions this Ramadan will end. Whether the restrictions imposed by Israel on the movement of Palestinians in Jerusalem will be effective will depend on numerous factors. The continuous bombings against Gaza is one of the factors to take into account. Dozens of Palestinians die every day due to bombings, most of them civilians, which is likely to light the fuse and cause a popular outbreak at any moment.

Eugenio Garcia Gascon has been a correspondent in Jerusalem for 29 years. He is a Cirilo Rodríguez journalism award winner.