US President Joe Biden told reporters on Friday he was concerned about violence breaking out in East Jerusalem if a temporary ceasefire agreement in the Gaza war is not agreed upon by the start of Ramadan.
Asked by reporters outside a campaign event if he was worried about violence in East Jerusalem without such a deal, he said, “I sure am.”
This year’s Ramadan, set to begin on Sunday, comes amid tinderbox tensions stemming from the ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, triggered by the group’s shock October 7 attack, when thousands of terrorists rampaged through southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages, mostly civilians.
Preparations for the holy month have made headlines in Israel and abroad.
Israeli officials were split in recent weeks on security arrangements for access to the Temple Mount, where hundreds of thousands of Muslim worshipers are expected to attend prayers, but the government ultimately decided not to impose sweeping restrictions on worshipers. The US, Egypt and Qatar have been pushing to close a hostage release deal before the holy month begins, but Hamas has conditioned it on Israel pledging to permanently end its campaign to destroy the terror group, a demand Israel dismissed as “delusional.”
Biden told reporters on Friday that the prospects of coming to an agreement before Ramadan were “looking tough,” though US Secretary of State Antony Blinken repeated Washington’s assertion that an Israeli-approved proposal remains on the table, and it is now up to Hamas to accept it.
“The issue is Hamas. The issue is whether Hamas will decide or not to have a ceasefire that would benefit everyone,” Blinken said. “The ball is in their court. We’re working intensely on it, and we’ll see what they do.”
The apparent outline of a six-week truce deal, thus far rejected by Hamas, would see 40 children, women, elderly and sick hostages released in a first phase, in exchange for some 400 Palestinian security prisoners, with the possibility of further releases to be negotiated.
Israel has said any ceasefire must be temporary and that its goal remains the destruction of Hamas and the return of all hostages. The terror group says it will release the hostages it has been holding since October 7 only as part of a deal that ends the war.
It is believed that 130 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive.
Officials have expressed worries that Ramadan could amplify tensions stemming from the war in Gaza, which has ignited worldwide Muslim anger toward Israel.
Israel will not reduce the number of worshipers allowed to pray on the Temple Mount in the first week of Ramadan from the levels in previous years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced Tuesday amid serious concerns over efforts by Hamas and its backer Iran to stir up violence at the flashpoint site and in Jerusalem in general during the Muslim holy month.
The premier’s office said that a “situational assessment around security and safety” will be made every week and that “a decision will be made accordingly.”
“Ramadan is holy for Muslims, and the sanctity of the holiday will be preserved this year, as it is every year,” Netanyahu’s office pledged, effectively dismissing restrictions sought by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, including on Arab Israelis’ access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound atop the mount.
The Temple Mount is the holiest place in Judaism, where two biblical Temples once stood. It is known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif or Holy Sanctuary, and is the third-holiest site in Islam, making the area a central flashpoint of the Israeli-Arab conflict.
Hundreds of thousands of Muslims crowd the site for prayers each Ramadan. While Israel has imposed restrictions on Palestinian access during times of heightened security tensions, it has refrained from imposing those rules on the country’s Muslim minority.
Last week, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh urged supporters to mobilize toward the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a flashpoint for violence during Ramadan in past years.
