Netanyahu considering restrictions on prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosqueduring Ramadan

Israel is still studying possible restrictions on entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan, an Israeli government spokesman said on Thursday, following a statement by Israel’s far- right Security Minister Ben Guwer. Avi Heyman told reporters that the issue is still under discussion in the cabinet. The final decision will be made keeping in mind security and public health.

Additionally, an Israeli report revealed that the war council decided to sideline National Security Minister Itamar Bin Guerr and rejected the ban that Ben Guerr imposed against Israeli Arabs praying at Al- Aqsa Mosque during the month of Ramadan.

On Thursday, The Times of Israel newspaper, detailing a report by Hebrew Channel 12, said a war council consisting of Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Gallant and Minister Benny Gantz decided to reject Ben Guerre’s proposals.

The report also said that the council had decided to become the sole body dealing with the issue and had also decided to disassociate National Security Minister Bin Gwir from the decision. Bin Guwer suggested that Muslims should be restricted from visiting the Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan.

This comes in the backdrop of calls by Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas’s political bureau, on Wednesday for Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem to move to Al-Aqsa Mosque on the first of Ramadan.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that Washington has been urging Israel to facilitate peaceful worshipers to visit the Temple Mount or the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the month of Ramadan.

The UN chief is saddened by the human tragedy in the Gaza

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called the human cost of the war in Gaza appalling, where more than 30,000 people have been killed and more than 70,000 injured, 70 percent of whom are women and children.

The statement issued by the Secretary General’s spokesperson said that a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and the immediate release of all hostages should be implemented and immediate steps should be taken to provide essential humanitarian aid to the people.

According to local media reports, 100 people waiting for aid in Gaza were killed in an Israeli attack on Friday. Martin Griffiths, the United Nations Coordinator for Aid Affairs, has said that the brutal war in Gaza has been going on for five months, but every day more than one horrific incident shakes the world.

He says that the reports of hundreds of people being killed and injured during the transfer of relief goods in the western region of Gaza City are horrifying. Life in Gaza is dying out at an alarming rate.

Secretary General has also condemned this incident. His spokesman Stephane Dujarric has said that desperate citizens in Gaza, including those besieged in the northern region, need urgent help, where UN aid has not been able to reach for a week.

According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, this incident occurred when the Israeli army opened fire on thousands of people who had gathered to receive aid. After which many people were killed as a result of the stampede.

Secretary-General’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York that the aid convoy was not part of UN operations. They say the current method of delivering aid to Gaza is unsafe for aid teams and aid recipients alike.