Israeli Lawmakers Advance Bill Restricting Al Aqsa Mosque Adhan Loudspeakers

Israeli lawmakers advanced legislation in Jerusalem that would impose new restrictions on the use of loudspeakers for the Islamic call to prayer, requiring permits and granting authorities broader powers to restrict or penalise their use.

“In the latest attack on Islam in the Holy Land, Israeli lawmakers are advancing legislation that would impose new restrictions on the use of loudspeakers for the Islamic call to prayer in Jerusalem, drawing strong condemnation from religious leaders and rights advocates”

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The proposal drew condemnation from religious leaders and rights advocates, with Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, the Imam of Al Aqsa Mosque, describing it as an attempt to legitimise restrictions that have increasingly targeted Islamic practices in Jerusalem.

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In occupied Jerusalem, Palestinian news agency WAFA said Jewish settlers stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque on Thursday under the protection of Israeli occupation forces, conducting provocative tours and performing Talmudic rituals.

Palestinians said Israel was escalating efforts to Judaize occupied East Jerusalem, including Al-Aqsa Mosque, and erase its Arab and Islamic identity, while the Palestinians regard East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state in line with international resolutions that do not recognise Israel's occupation of the city in 1967 or its subsequent annexation in 1980.

Palestinian authorities told WAFA that dozens entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday under the protection of Israeli police, touring its courtyards and performing Talmudic rituals.

The Jerusalem Governorate, affiliated with the Palestinian Authority, condemned Israeli police plans to recruit religious Jews and far-right officers for the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, calling it a "dangerous development" that reflected Israeli plans to alter the identity of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Al Jazeera

The Express Tribune reported that Haaretz said the number of Jewish visitors to the compound had increased significantly and that "the Israel Police has added an extra hour to visiting times," while district commanders maintained regular contact with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and his wife, Ayala.

In parallel, the Anadolu Ajansı report said a Palestinian youth was killed by Israeli gunfire near the Qalandia refugee camp north of Jerusalem, with the Palestinian Ministry of Health saying it was informed of the martyrdom of Ayman Rafiq Muhammad al-Heshlmon, 30 years old.

Human Rights Watch described how hostilities in May between the Israeli government and Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip lasted 11 days, with the Israeli army claiming it struck about 1,500 targets in Gaza and UN figures cited as killing at least 120 Palestinian civilians.

“Eleven Palestinians were martyred in occupied Jerusalem, while more than 25,000 Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the start of this year until the end of June”

Al-Jazeera Net

Human Rights Watch also said Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas, fired more than 4,000 rockets and mortar shells at Israel, killing 12 civilians in Israel and at least 7 Palestinians in Gaza, while Israel imposed strict restrictions on the movement of people and goods to and from Gaza.

In the West Bank, L'Orient-Le Jour reported that a Palestinian man, Imad Haroun Mahmoud Ashtiyeh, 26 (28 according to a relative), was shot dead by Israeli forces as he attempted to illegally enter Jerusalem by climbing the wall erected in the occupied West Bank at Al-Ram north of Jerusalem.

Amnesty International said on June 24 that Israeli police carried out numerous violations against Palestinians in Israel and in occupied East Jerusalem, engaging in a campaign of discriminatory repression including mass arrests and the use of illegal force against peaceful protesters, and it quoted Saleh Higazi, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa programme, saying "The police have an obligation to protect all people under Israeli authority".