Israel Bans Academic Program Promoting Demolition of ‘Dome of the Rock’ Mosque

A general view shows part of Jerusalem's Old City and the Dome of the Rock December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
A general view shows part of Jerusalem's Old City and the Dome of the Rock December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
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Israel Bans Academic Program Promoting Demolition of ‘Dome of the Rock’ Mosque

A general view shows part of Jerusalem's Old City and the Dome of the Rock December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
A general view shows part of Jerusalem's Old City and the Dome of the Rock December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

The Israeli Education Ministry decided to remove the “Student for the Temple Mount” group from the academic program in Jewish schools.

The group include activists who support the establishment of the "Third Temple" (the Jewish Temple) on the ruins of Omar Mosque (Dome of the Rock in Al Aqsa Mosque)

The decision followed leaked information that the group is setting up a topic called "Knowing the Importance of the Temple Mount," which speaks of the Aqsa as the Temple Mount

The topic points out that the Dome of the Rock Mosque replaced the Jewish temple and must be rebuilt in its original place, which means an explicit call to demolish the mosque.

According to Israel’s Channel 10 TV report, the program is made by the far right-wing movement "Im Tirtzu.”

The report said that this movement is broadcasting to school students the controversial agenda of the Temple Mount and its activists.

The group is linked to the banned Kahane gang, which calls for the expulsion of Palestinian Arabs from their homeland and the cleansing of Israel of non-Jews.

Many organizations were established from this group, and they have carried out practical activities to spread despair among Palestinians to leave and carried out terror operations, during which Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem were burnt.

They also published maps of the Temple Mount, removing the Dome of the Rock’s picture from them and replacing it with the Jewish Temple.

In addition to that, a cannon was also seized on the roof of a house in Jerusalem, and its nozzle was pointed towards the Aqsa Mosque.

This group was banned from the Israeli law because of the seriousness of its racist rhetoric, but its activists knew how to continue their activity and promote their ideas in other contexts.



UN Has Permission for 100 More Aid Trucks to Enter Gaza, Official Says 

Trucks carrying aid are seen at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza, on the Israeli side, May 20, 2025. (Reuters)
Trucks carrying aid are seen at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza, on the Israeli side, May 20, 2025. (Reuters)
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UN Has Permission for 100 More Aid Trucks to Enter Gaza, Official Says 

Trucks carrying aid are seen at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza, on the Israeli side, May 20, 2025. (Reuters)
Trucks carrying aid are seen at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza, on the Israeli side, May 20, 2025. (Reuters)

The United Nations has received permission from Israel for about 100 more aid trucks to enter Gaza on Tuesday, a spokesperson for its humanitarian office said.

"We have requested and received approval for more trucks to enter today, many more than were approved yesterday," Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office told a Geneva press briefing.

Asked to specify how many, he said "around 100".

After an 11-week Israeli blockade, Israel cleared nine trucks of aid on Monday to enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, although Laerke said just five of those entered Gaza.

"The next step is to collect them, and then they will be distributed through the existing system, the one that has proven itself," said Laerke, adding that those trucks contained baby food and nutritional products for children.

Malnutrition rates in Gaza have risen during the Israeli blockade and could rise exponentially if food shortages continue, a health official at the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said at the same briefing.

"I have data until end of April and it shows malnutrition on the rise," Akihiro Seita, UNRWA Director of Health, told a Geneva press briefing. "And then the worry is that if the current food shortage continues, it will exponentially increase, and then get beyond our control."