Israel has expanded its attacks on its opponents, hitting multiple targets in Syria in response to rocket attacks on the Golan Heights, which Israel has illegally occupied for over 50 years. Explosions were reported near Damascus within hours of Israeli authorities saying that six rockets were fired at the Golan Heights on Saturday night. But while Israel tries to paint this and other attacks as unprovoked acts of aggression by pro-Palestinian groups, the rest of the world knows that the attack was in response to Israeli state terrorism at the Al-Aqsa, where police thrashed worshippers and allowed Jewish worshippers to breach several areas that are supposed to be restricted to Muslims.
After the initial attacks by Israeli security forces, hundreds of Muslims barricaded themselves inside the mosque on Sunday, fearing further escalation. The OIC and Jordan — which manages the Al-Aqsa complex — have all warned Israel that any attempt to storm the mosque would have severe consequences. It is also worth noting that reckless behaviour around the complex by Israeli extremists — both religious and political — has been the flashpoint for several militant attacks on Israel in the past. These incidents led to almost all of the major conflicts between Israel and Palestinian groups in the past few decades, which have killed thousands of Palestinian civilians and a few hundred Israeli soldiers and civilians.
It is also worth noting that the current wave of violence has changed the news cycle from nationwide protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial efforts to depower the judiciary, grant parliament massive authority over the courts, and erase some of the country’s secular credentials. Netanyahu is among the firebrand leaders that have previously used such tactics to bury embarrassing stories, and it would not be surprising if it later emerged that the violence in Al-Aqsa was just a smokescreen for his dismantling of Israel’s checks and balances.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 11th, 2023.
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