Jerusalem Governorate Warns of Plans by Alleged 'Temple' Groups to Target Al-Aqsa Mosque

SadaNews - The Jerusalem Governorate warned of the dangers posed by the rapid and overt movements of alleged 'Temple' groups, which have taken on a systematic practical character aimed at directly affecting the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and altering its historical and religious nature.

The governorate confirmed in a statement issued today, Thursday, that the preparations, rituals, and readiness being exhibited today are no longer just a religious dream or a mythical idea but have become an organized colonial project managed and supported by political and religious entities within the Israeli occupation system, in a dangerous attempt to impose complete sovereignty over the Al-Aqsa Mosque and replace it with the so-called 'Temple'.

The governorate noted that the 'Temple' groups are intensifying their activities and field preparations openly, through their religious and educational institutions, most notably the 'Yeshivat HaRaBeit' school, which recently published videos documenting their preparations to build the alleged temple, including training priests to present animal sacrifices, sewing garments for them, and designing geometric models representing the supposed shape of the temple, in a dangerous step aimed at familiarizing public opinion with the idea of building on the ruins of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

It pointed out that these practices coincide with continuous and extreme statements from the extreme Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who is racing against time to impose a plan of 'temporal and spatial division' in the mosque and encourages 'Temple' groups to intensify their mass incursions into the mosque's courtyards and ascend to what is called 'Temple Mount'.

The Jerusalem Governorate added that the extreme incitement campaigns circulated by social media networks and media outlets affiliated with these groups are now openly inciting the demolition of Al-Aqsa Mosque or the Dome of the Rock to build the alleged temple on site and are publishing videos and drawings depicting the process of the alleged construction, calling for widespread participation in daily incursions. These clips have also shown detailed plans for the new temple, clearly indicating that these entities view the project as a fact in progress rather than as a religious symbol or historical myth.

It continued: These movements cannot be read in isolation from the official support that 'Temple' groups receive from the Israeli government, whether through direct funding or the political cover provided by extremist ministers and officials, led by Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, as well as former Knesset members such as Moshe Feiglin and Yehuda Glick.

It explained that these groups operate in an organized manner within Israeli law and enjoy official recognition, which grants them a false legitimacy that enables them to implement dangerous Judaization projects, including daily incursions into the mosque, holding Talmudic prayers in its courtyards, repeated attempts to bring animal sacrifices to it, as well as campaigns to recruit young 'priests' and expand popular participation in these aggressive activities.

The governorate emphasized that the activities of 'Temple' groups are part of a comprehensive colonial plan targeting the alteration of the religious, political, and legal reality in Jerusalem, through the control of the largest possible area of endowment lands, seizing the homes of Jerusalemites, planting fake graves around Al-Aqsa, and Judaizing the Arab, Islamic, and Christian character of the city, while continuing to promote a false narrative that claims the Al-Aqsa Mosque was built on the ruins of 'Solomon's Temple' and that the 'Western Wall' is a part of the remains of that temple, claims that have been historically, religiously, and legally disproven, yet are exploited as a pretext to legitimize repeated incursions and dangerous excavations beneath the foundations of the blessed mosque.

The Jerusalem Governorate considered that the continuation of these provocative activities amid suspicious international silence and the neglect of international institutions to fulfill their legal and moral duties encourages the occupation government and its extremist arms to persist in executing its Judaization and expansionist projects against the holy city and its sacred sites, and that ignoring these movements or treating them as a normal routine is a grave error that may lead to catastrophic repercussions affecting the security and stability of the entire region, stressing the urgent need for Arab and Islamic countries and the international community to pressure the occupation to stop its violations and respect the existing historical and legal status at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

It confirmed that what is happening today represents a dangerous phase of Israeli aggression against Jerusalem and its holy sites, and that these systematic preparations to build the 'Third Temple' are not merely extremist religious rituals but a colonial project aimed at uprooting the Arab and Islamic presence from the holy city. It called on all official, popular, and media entities to confront these plans by all possible legal, political, and diplomatic means, and to intensify efforts to document the violations and expose the practices of the occupation to the entire world, in defense of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.