Jewish Settlers Threaten to Storm into Aqsa Mosque Sunday

Israeli policemen beat AFP photographer Ahmad Gharabli while covering clashes between worshipers and security forces in Al-Aqsa Mosque (AFP)
Israeli policemen beat AFP photographer Ahmad Gharabli while covering clashes between worshipers and security forces in Al-Aqsa Mosque (AFP)
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Jewish Settlers Threaten to Storm into Aqsa Mosque Sunday

Israeli policemen beat AFP photographer Ahmad Gharabli while covering clashes between worshipers and security forces in Al-Aqsa Mosque (AFP)
Israeli policemen beat AFP photographer Ahmad Gharabli while covering clashes between worshipers and security forces in Al-Aqsa Mosque (AFP)

Activists in Jerusalem called upon Palestinians to gather in the al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday and protect it from the expected storming of extremist settlers.

A number of officials and authorities have also joined the calls, asking for protecting the Mosque from any possible incursions.

A group of Jewish extremists has reportedly called for the massive storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Sunday.

"On Sunday morning at 7:00, we will know if we have lost the war," said Assaf Farid, spokesman for the Federation of Temple Organizations.

Israel prevented Jewish extremists from storming into the mosque during the last ten days of Ramadan month, after their incursions and attempts to expel Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood sparked unprecedented violent clashes between Arabs and Jews.

Israel closed the al-Maghariba Gate several days before the most widespread confrontations erupted on May 10, leading to war inside and around al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israeli police used bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades against unarmed Palestinians who were defending the mosque from Jewish extremists.

Clashes also erupted in the streets and alleys of Jerusalem, which witnessed another kind of war with the police, special forces, and settlers.

Israel prevented settlers from entering the mosque following the violent clashes, but they gathered in the streets, before Hamas launched its missiles from Gaza towards Jerusalem, marking the beginning of the 11-day war.

Tensions continued in Jerusalem, despite the end of the war in Gaza, as the Israeli forces arrested six citizens from the Old City and near al-Aqsa.

The Palestinian Society Prisoner's Club said that the Israeli forces arrested over 50 citizens from West Bank since Saturday dawn.



Senior US Republican Demands Biden Administration Shut Gaza Aid Pier

 A US Army soldier gestures as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP)
A US Army soldier gestures as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP)
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Senior US Republican Demands Biden Administration Shut Gaza Aid Pier

 A US Army soldier gestures as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP)
A US Army soldier gestures as trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arrive at the US-built floating pier Trident before reaching the beach on the coast of the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP)

The Republican lawmaker who leads the House Armed Services Committee has written to the Biden administration formally demanding it shut down its aid pier off the coast Gaza, calling the operation ineffective, risky and a waste of money.

The offshore floating pier, announced by Biden in March as a response to the threat of famine in the Gaza Strip, was constructed off the coast of the enclave by the US military as a way to bring in food and other aid supplies.

The US military has been authorized to operate it until the end of July, but a US Agency for International Development official said this week that the administration could seek to extend it for at least another month.

"I urge the Administration to immediately cease this failed operation before further catastrophe occurs and consider alternative means of land and air-based humanitarian aid delivery," House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers wrote in a letter seen by Reuters.

The letter, sent to White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, has not been previously reported.

Rogers has long opposed the pier and has called in the past for it to be dismantled, but he had not previously expressed that view in a formal written letter to the administration.

His armed services committee is the Pentagon's top oversight body in the House of Representatives, and formal requests from its chairman traditionally require a response from Pentagon officials.

Aid first began arriving via the US-built pier on May 17 into Gaza, where nearly all the 2.3 million residents have been displaced by Israel's campaign against the Hamas movement.

But rough seas have damaged the pier, forcing repairs, and poor weather has limited the number of days the pier has been operational. Most of the supplies that have reached the shore have yet to be distributed by UN aid agencies which say their operations have been limited by insecurity.

"As of June 19, JLOTS had only been operational about 10 days and had only moved 3,415 metric tons onto the beach in Gaza," Rogers wrote, using the US military's acronym for the pier system, known as Joint Logistics Over the Shore.

According to US military data, as of Tuesday, 8,332 pallets had been delivered via the pier. But around 84% of them have been sitting on Gaza's coast in a marshalling area waiting to be picked up by the United Nations for distribution.

The World Food Program paused deliveries earlier this month over security concerns.

Reuters was given rare access to the US military-run pier off Gaza on Tuesday and saw aid pallets being moved from a vessel onto the 1,200-foot (370 m)-long pier as it bobbed around with the incoming waves. The pallets were then taken by trucks to the coast.

The operation is complex, involving about 1,000 US military personnel. The Pentagon estimates the first 90 days of operation will cost about $230 million.

Rogers also noted that three US servicemembers suffered non-combat injuries while deployed on the operation.

"I urge the Administration to immediately cease this failed operation before further catastrophe occurs and consider alternative means of land and air-based humanitarian aid delivery," Rogers wrote.