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Ben-Gvir Says He Will Do ‘Everything’ to Change Situation in Al-Aqsa

Ultra-Orthodox Jews perform a ritual next to one of the gates of the Temple Mount, last October (AP)
Ultra-Orthodox Jews perform a ritual next to one of the gates of the Temple Mount, last October (AP)
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Ben-Gvir Says He Will Do ‘Everything’ to Change Situation in Al-Aqsa

Ultra-Orthodox Jews perform a ritual next to one of the gates of the Temple Mount, last October (AP)
Ultra-Orthodox Jews perform a ritual next to one of the gates of the Temple Mount, last October (AP)

Itamar Ben-Gvir, a leader in the Israeli far-right Otzma Yehudit party and who will be Israel's national security minister in the upcoming government, has vowed to change the status quo in Al-Aqsa mosque.

Ben-Gvir also pledged changing shooting regulations against Palestinians and the legalization of settlements.

Speaking to a Hebrew radio station on Sunday, Ben-Gvir responded to a direct question on whether he would allow Jews to pray in the Temple Mount by saying that he would do everything to prevent “racist policies.”

The racist policies Ben-Gvir was referring to are those that prevent Jews from performing public prayers in Al-Aqsa’s compound.

Ben-Gvir moved on to reiterate that he would work to change regulations on shooting Palestinians, describing the current directives as “stupid,” because they leave Israeli soldiers and police vulnerable.

He considered that attackers should be shot even when they do not pose a threat.

“Instead of waiting, those carrying a Molotov cocktail should be shot on the spot,” said Ben-Gvir.

He also stressed that he would work to change the reality of illegal settlements.

“In a few months, we will witness improvement and change, and we will achieve several results,” said Ben-Gvir.

Among other things, Ben-Gvir said he would examine whether a law would be passed in the Knesset to deport the families of those who attacked Israelis.

Ben-Gvir's statements came two days after his party concluded a controversial agreement with the Likud party headed by Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu. By virtue of that agreement, Ben-Gvir will become the minister of national security with expanded powers.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said that the Palestinians will launch a broad political movement to confront the upcoming ministerial coalition in Israel.

Al-Maliki confirmed that Palestinian leadership has sent messages to international bodies, especially the European Union, warning against the consequences of Ben-Gvir assuming ministerial positions in the next Israeli government.

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Sudan's RSF and Allies Formalize Vision for Parallel Government

A man walks by a house hit in recent fighting in Khartoum, Sudan, an area torn by fighting between the military and the notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, on April 25, 2023. (AP)
A man walks by a house hit in recent fighting in Khartoum, Sudan, an area torn by fighting between the military and the notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, on April 25, 2023. (AP)
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Sudan's RSF and Allies Formalize Vision for Parallel Government

A man walks by a house hit in recent fighting in Khartoum, Sudan, an area torn by fighting between the military and the notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, on April 25, 2023. (AP)
A man walks by a house hit in recent fighting in Khartoum, Sudan, an area torn by fighting between the military and the notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, on April 25, 2023. (AP)

Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied groups signed a transitional constitution on Tuesday that takes them a step closer to setting up a parallel government during a two-year-old war with the army that threatens to split the country.

The paramilitary RSF has recently been on the back foot in the conflict, which has caused mass displacement, extreme hunger, bouts of ethnically-charged killings and sexual violence.

As fighting rages, the RSF on Tuesday launched its latest long-range drone attack on power infrastructure, targeting Sudan's largest power generation station at the Merowe Dam, according to an army statement and knocking out power in swathes of northern Sudan.

The army claimed gains in the Sharg el-Nil area as it sought to surround the RSF in the capital, Khartoum.

The RSF-led constitution is designed to supplant a constitution signed after the army and RSF ousted long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir during an uprising in 2019.

In 2021 the two military factions staged a coup, derailing a transition towards civilian rule, but in April 2023 plans for a new transition triggered warfare between them.

The RSF and its allies had in late February agreed in principle to form a government for a "New Sudan" as they sought to pull legitimacy from the existing army-led government and facilitate advanced arms imports.

The new constitution formally establishes a government and maps out what it describes as a federal, secular state, split into eight regions.

It provides for a bill of basic rights, giving regions the right to self-determination should certain conditions, chief among them separation of religion and the state, not be met.

It also calls for a single national army, with the signatories as the "nucleus". Elections are mentioned as an outcome of the transitional period, without any fixed timetable.

Signatories include the powerful and secular-minded SPLM-N, which controls vast areas in Sudan's South Kordofan, and other smaller groups.

The RSF and its allies have said the government will be formed in the coming weeks but it is unclear who will be in it or where it will operate from.