As Ramadan approaches, calls for a ceasefire in Gaza are gaining urgency.Israeli action risks escalating tensions at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, center of Arab-Israeli conflict
As the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, scheduled to begin on the evening of March 10, approaches, the critical need to reach a ceasefire in Gaza is once again being raised. Israeli security officials have warned against taking harsh measures. It would significantly deny Muslims from within Israel and the West Bank the freedom to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount/Haram Al-Sharif compound in Jerusalem’s Old City.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque and Temple Mount/Haram Al-Sharif complex is at the center of the Arab-Israeli conflict due to its religious status in Islam and Judaism. The conflict has pushed both sides into what could become a religious war between the estimated 16 million Jews and nearly 2 billion Muslims worldwide. Who would instigate such a large-scale conflict?
Israel, the Palestinian leadership, and Islamic waqfs must take careful and calculated steps to ensure freedom of religion is respected at Islam’s third holiest shrine. At the same time, law and order should be maintained within the premises of Al-Aqsa Mosque during the entire period of prayer, during the month of Ramadan and preferably beyond.
Keeping Israeli security forces, including police and border guards, outside the walls of Al-Aqsa Mosque and in the larger square would undermine any incentive for Palestinian worshipers to demonstrate. The fact that Israeli police are not on the scene or in sight means there is no provocation against Palestinians. In contrast, non-stop attacks on Mosque Square by Jewish fanatics motivated by Ben Gvir’s far-right wing, attempting to maintain tranquility within the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif grounds. It will seriously undermine any attempt to do so.
The Islamic waqf, whose job it is to maintain law, order and tranquility in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, is to thwart the infiltration of known subversive elements whose main purpose is to cause unrest rather than prayer. We must do everything we can to do so. . A joint Palestinian-Jordanian-Israeli commission is perhaps what the mosque needs to ensure its sanctity is respected by all parties.
Do not deny that fanatic extremists on both sides are helping each other. The job of those who still have functioning brains in their heads is to work together to stop political parties from manipulating and using Islam’s third holiest shrine for political purposes, and to prevent the mosque unrest from turning into the Gaza war. The goal is to prevent it from being exploited for further escalation.
Pressure is mounting on Israel to accelerate a ceasefire agreement in Gaza before the start of Ramadan. The US government is concerned that other elements, such as Lebanon, could be included in the conflict if fighting continues into the holiday.
The biggest beneficiaries of a ceasefire, whether humanitarian or other types of ceasefire, are Israeli prisoners of war held in Gaza and the 1.4 million people concentrated in Rafah on the border with Gaza. They are displaced Palestinians nearby. Egypt.
The needs of these two key elements of the conflict should be addressed immediately, rather than being shuffled between Israel, Egypt, Qatar, France, and the United States. If not, it is better to save on travel expenses and leave the fate of war victims on both sides in God’s hands.
All transactions involve something in return: both parties give something and receive something in return. An agreement to release Israeli prisoners in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel is fair enough. A ceasefire in Gaza and increased humanitarian aid to beleaguered Palestinians are also fair enough. All parties involved can agree on these two parameters, ultimately giving them time and space to prepare for the post-ceasefire period.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ignored international calls for a ceasefire and remains committed to a zero-sum policy of continuing the war until Hamas is defeated. Suggestions that he didn’t really care about the fate of the Israeli prisoners in Gaza or the hundreds, if not thousands, of Palestinians who are likely to die in this Gaza war. There is room to do so.
Victory cannot determine the outcome of the current war. Both sides are paying a lot of money, and the longer this war drags on, the more they will pay.in his book military tactics, Sun Tzu wrote, “The greatest victory is victory without fighting.” Mutual victories that both sides can achieve on their own will therefore be reached at the negotiating table with international support. Over the past three decades, the United States has repeatedly failed to manage, let alone resolve, conflicts.
International intervention is needed to provide sufficient guarantees to Palestinians and Israelis so that their peace efforts will inevitably lead to the long-awaited two-state solution. No matter how much this solution is supported or opposed by either party, it is the only viable solution for the Middle East.