The street was built on part of the historical road that connected the Old City’s Jaffa Gate south to the Mediterranean coast, including Gaza City.

By JNS

The Hostage and Missing Families Forum appealed to Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion in a letter on Thursday to rename the capital’s Gaza Street to Hostages Street until all of the captives are freed from Hamas.

Doing so will “carry a clear and moral message in the heart of the nation’s capital: Until everyone comes home, life in Israel cannot go on as usual,” the forum said.

The families wrote that the move, while symbolic, would be a meaningful step to express solidarity with the hostages’ families, increase public and international awareness, and convey a message of unity and mutual responsibility.

Gaza Street is a main road in the upscale Rehavia neighborhood of Jerusalem, built in the 1920s. The street was built on part of the historical road that connected the Old City’s Jaffa Gate south to the Mediterranean coast, including Gaza City.

The Prime Minister’s Residence is located near Gaza Street.

Tel Aviv adopted a similar symbolic gesture in the aftermath of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

A public plaza located in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art was given the temporary name of “Hostage Square,” following a protest encampment at the site on behalf of the families of those kidnapped into Gaza.

Many Israelis and foreigners have visited “Hostage Square” over the past 22 months and taken part in demonstrations of support every Saturday evening and on other occasions, calling for the release of those abducted into Gaza.

Fifty hostages remain in Gaza, with 49 abducted 680 days ago and one, IDF Lt. Hadar Goldin, taken in 2014. Of the 50, Israel presumes that 20 are alive.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Jerusalem would only agree to end the war on Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip in exchange for a deal freeing all remaining hostages.

“We realized that they were basically misleading us and, in any case, would keep many hostages in their hands, both alive and dead,” the premier told i24News regarding the negotiations for a partial deal.

“We want them all, I want them all, both the living and the dead,” said Netanyahu. “I want to bring them all back as part of ending the war, but under the conditions of ending the war on our terms.

“As part of the discussion on our terms—the release of all the hostages, both the living and the dead—we are at the stage of a single deal; there is no going back,” he said.

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The former grand Mufti of Jerusalem is subject to criminal probe for incitement, police confirm, after decades of comments glorifying terrorists and supporting the families of suicide bombers.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

The former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Sheikh Ekrima Sabri is currently the focus of a criminal investigation for incitement after repeatedly making remarks praising and glorifying terrorists.

The probe into Sabri’s comments comes after he visited the family of terrorist Uday Tamimi in October 2022. Sabri called Tamimi’s murder of a young female soldier “sublime and godly,” and said he should serve as an inspirational example for Muslims.

Maor Tzemach, chair of Zionist NGO Your Jerusalem, welcomed the move to investigate Sabri, but emphasized to World Israel News that the cleric has a long history of supporting terror and making incendiary remarks.

Decades of incitement

“We’ve been raising the alarm about him for many, many years,” Tzemach told World Israel News (WIN).

“He supported suicide bombers [during the Second Intifada], he raised money for the families of terrorists, and we’ve been pressuring the authorities to prosecute him for incitement against the State of Israel. He’s very, very extreme.”

Hebrew-language news outlet HaKol HaYehudi and the Jerusalem-focused Lavi NGO compiled an extensive report detailing Sabri’s long history of incendiary statements dating back to 2001, which Tzemach shared with WIN.

In May 2001, Sabri gave a sermon at Al Aqsa Mosque in which he criticized a Saudi cleric’s ruling that suicide bombings are not permissible under Islamic law.

Sabri said that ruling was incorrect, and that suicide bombings are completely acceptable.

The report, which Tzemach co-authored, noted similarities between Sabri and Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem during the 1930s. Al-Husseini met with Adolf Hitler and expressed support for the genocide of Jews.

“Six million Jews dead? No way, they were much fewer. Let’s stop with this fairy tale exploited by Israel to capture international solidarity,” Sabri said to an Italian newspaper in 2000, referring to the Holocaust.

“It is not my fault if Hitler hated Jews, indeed they were hated a little everywhere. Instead, it is necessary to denounce the unjust occupation endured by my people.”

Sabri wrote a 2006 book that made multiple references to the antisemitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

“Ekrima Sabri is currently leading the violence and terrorism in Jerusalem. Sabri exploits every event of a political-religious-nationalist nature by warning that ‘Al Aqsa Mosque is in danger,’ thus giving the signal to Arab rioters to act violently and riot on the Temple Mount,” Tzemach wrote in the report.

“Sabri leads a huge support system for the families of terrorists,” Tzemach continued. “At the peak of the Intifada, he held special parties for family members of terrorists imprisoned by Israel….Simultaneously, he led a fund-raising campaign to help rebuild the homes of families whose homes were destroyed by the IDF due to their sons committing terror attacks.”

Sabri is a “super instigator,” Tzemach wrote.

Why now?

Tzemach provided WIN with a video of Sabri visiting the family of Tamimi, the terrorist who killed 21-year-old soldier Noa Lazar and critically wounded another at an eastern Jerusalem checkpoint in October 2022. After Lazar’s slaying, Tamimi was the subject of a manhunt that lasted over a week.

Later in October, while still a fugitive, Tamimi attacked security guards at the entrance to Ma’ale Adumim, shooting one of the guards in the arm. The guard managed to return fire and Tamimi was fatally struck.

After Tamimi’s slaying, Sabri went to pay condolences to his family. During the visit, he referred to the terrorist as a martyr, stating that he was “honorable” from an Islamic religious perspective and that he was certainly in Heaven.

Sabri added that the terrorist’s parents would be honored in heaven due to the murderous actions of their son. Should the average Palestinian understand just how highly regarded “martyrs” are from a religious perspective, he said,there would be an overwhelming higher number of them committing similar attacks.

Tamimi’s attacks were “sublime and godly,” he said, emphasizing that other Muslims should aspire to similar actions.

Shortly after his visit to the Tamimi family home, Sabri jetted off to Morocco for an Islamic conference, despite being briefly questioned by police about his praise for the terrorist.

It’s unclear why this most recent incident was the trigger point for Israeli police to launch their investigation into Sabri, considering his previous remarks. Although Sabri has been arrested several times by Israel, he was never convicted on charges of supporting terror or incitement.

Tzemach told WIN he believes that authorities had been slow to formally launch a probe against Sabri due to fears that doing so could spark unrest from Arab Israelis and Palestinians.

“I believe that that heavy pressure from right-wing organizations, including Your Jerusalem and HaKol HaYehudi, along with the last video [at the Tamimi residence] which is incitement par excellence,” was what pushed authorities towards finally opening an investigation against Sabri, Tzemach said.

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Mufti of Jerusalem says Jewish visits to the Temple Mount “provoke the feelings of about two billion Muslims in the world.”

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Arab leaders, including the Mufti of Jerusalem, have warned that Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount during the month-long Muslim holiday of Ramadan should expect a violent response at the site and possible consequences for Israel’s security.

Palestinian and Muslim leaders have long held that Jews visiting or praying at the compound, which is the holiest site in Judaism and Islam’s third-holiest, is inherently provocative and could trigger uncontrollable violence.

Sheikh Mohammad Hussein, the Mufti of Jerusalem, warned of “dire consequences” on Wednesday should Jewish visitors continue to “be present at the Muslim holy site.”

Ignoring the historical connection between the Temple Mount and Judaism, Hussein said that the Israeli government has “malicious intentions” by not banning Jews from the site.

Israel “will be responsible for all consequences of its hideous decisions that increase and fuel hatred and hostility in the region as part of its attempt to control the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” he added.

Muslims will take matters into their own hands to ensure that Jews cannot visit or pray at the Temple Mount, as such actions constitute a “heinous crime” that “harms the sanctity of Al-Aqsa,” he continued.

Permitting Jews to visit the Temple Mount “provokes the feelings of about two billion Muslims in the world, which poses a real danger and calls for a serious Arab-Islamic response.”

The Palestinian Authority-controlled WAFA news agency similarly branded the Temple Mount as a “Muslim-only worship area” and said the presence of Jews is an unacceptable blow to the status quo.

Sheikh Najah Bakirat, director-general of the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem, referred to “the approval of the Israeli occupation authorities for extremist settlers to storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the month of Ramadan” as a “a wrong racist decision, aimed at heating up the situation.”

Quiet visits to the site by Jews are typically framed by mainstream Palestinian and Arabic-language media as “settlers storming Al-Aqsa,” though visitors never step foot inside of the mosque and usually keep their distance from the building.

Tom Nisani, CEO of Beyadenu, a group advocating for Jewish visits on the Temple Mount, told World Israel News that Jews would continue to visit the site, despite the threat.

“The right of Jews to ascend the Temple Mount and pray there is a basic right, and we will not give up,” Nisani said.

“The threats of all those terrorists, from the Mufti of Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority, are threats that the powerful state of Israel must ignore and, if necessary, take action on the ground to protect the Jews ascending the Temple Mount.

Nisani added that “the reaction of Islamic extremists proves that instead of celebrating their holiday, they are busy exploiting it for the purposes of terrorism and incitement and murder.”

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The Tomb is the second-holiest site in Judaism after the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

By World Israel News Staff

Sheikh Mohammad Hussein, the Mufti of Jerusalem, condemned former U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence’s visit on Wednesday to Hebron and, in particular, the Tomb of the Patriarchs, Khaled Abu Toameh reported in The Jerusalem Post.

Yishai Fleisher, international spokesperson for the Jewish community of Hebron, gave Pence and his wife Karen a tour of the biblical city.

“Abraham was the father of 3 great world religions and it was a joy for @KarenPence and I to be able to visit his final resting place,” Pence tweeted.

Abraham was the father of 3 great world religions and it was a joy for @KarenPence and I to be able to visit his final resting place. pic.twitter.com/ySBaSsl0do

— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) March 9, 2022

The Tomb of the Patriarchs is the burial place of patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and matriarchs Sarah, Rebecca and Leah. Adam and Eve are also said to be buried there. The matriarch Rachel is buried separately near the city of Bethlehem.

The Tomb is the second-holiest site in Judaism after the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It includes a mosque called al-Haram al-Ibrahimi.

In a statement Thursday, the Mufti slammed Pence for “storming the site,” saying it’s a place for Muslims only, the Post reported.

Abu Toameh explained that the Palestinians regularly use the word “storm” to describe visits by Jews to the Temple Mount, the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus (Shechem) in Samaria.

In what could be seen as an act of incitement to violence, the mufti said that what Pence did by visiting the Tomb “is a provocative and dangerous act for which the [Israeli] occupation authorities bear the consequences.”

The mufti also condemned the work being carried out by the Israeli authorities in the courtyards of the Ibrahimi Mosque in order to make the site wheelchair accessible, according to the Post.

Despite lack of approval from Hebron’s Palestinian Authority (PA)-controlled municipality, an elevator is being built, which the mufti claimed is being done “to facilitate the extremist settlers’ incursions into the mosque, in addition to changing the mosque’s features” and to “Judaize” the site, the Post said.

The mufti added that “all religions and international laws forbid causing any harm to places of worship.”

He called on the Arab and Islamic countries and international institutions to protect religious holy sites in the occupied Palestinian territories and prevent the takeover of the Ibrahimi Mosque and any changes to its Islamic features,” the report said.

In fact, Hebron was the first capital of the Jewish people, specifically the tribe of Judah, from whom most Jews today descend. King David served as king in Hebron for seven years before he was crowned King of Israel in Jerusalem.

“Thank you for your incredible effort against the historical theft that UNESCO made when it declared that this is not a Jewish site, that this is a world historical site that is Palestinian,” Fleisher told Pence.

In July 2017, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee designated the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Hebron a Palestinian heritage site.

Then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu read passages from the Bible during the following Sunday’s weekly Cabinet meeting as a refutation of the UNESCO resolution.

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On Thursday, Holocaust Memorial Day, Hebrew media in Israel broadcast Nazi propaganda in Arabic for the first time.

The post WATCH: Nazi propaganda in Arabic airs for first time in Israel appeared first on World Israel News.

The Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, said the Temple Mount belongs only to Muslims in an interview on Tuesday.

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“We will not allow Congresswoman Tlaib and extremist elements in Europe to rewrite history,” said Ambassador Danon.

By The Algemeiner

Israel’s UN envoy, Danny Danon, criticized U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib by name on Wednesday, as he spoke about anti-Semitism at an event at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston.

“As a wave of anti-Semitism sweeps the world, we are witnessing the spread of lies that attempt to distort the memory of the Holocaust,” Danon said. “We will not allow Congresswoman Tlaib and extremist elements in Europe to rewrite history. We will not remain silent in the face of those who try to do so.

“World leaders must defend the truth, as this is the only way to create a future without hatred towards Jews and Israel,” Danon added.

Meanwhile, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (CoP) on Wednesday also joined the growing chorus of condemnation of Tlaib over her recent comments on Palestinians and the Holocaust.

“We are once again highly concerned by remarks made by Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, in which she engaged in historical revisionism and distortion,” CoP Chairman Arthur Stark and Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Malcolm Hoenlein said.

Rep. Tlaib stated that, ‘There’s always kind of a calming feeling I tell folks when I think of the Holocaust, and the tragedy of the Holocaust, and the fact that it was my ancestors, Palestinians, who lost their land and some lost their lives, their livelihood, their human dignity, their existence in many ways, have been wiped out, and some people’s passports.

“I mean, just all of it was in the name of trying to create a safe haven for Jews, post-the Holocaust, post-the tragedy and the horrific persecution of Jews across the world at that time, and I love the fact that it was my ancestors that provided that, right, in many ways. But they did it in a way that took their human dignity away, right, and it was forced on them.”

Stark and Hoenlein noted, “As tens of thousands of Jews in Germany sought refuge from the infamous Nuremberg Laws and Nazi persecutions, including after the November 9th, 1938, Kristallnacht pogroms, Arab militias and mobs in Mandatory Palestine were attacking Jewish settlements and farms and killing Jewish residents.

“The 1939 White Paper, which limited Jewish immigration to Palestine at the very moment when escape from Europe became an existential priority, was instituted to placate the Mandate’s Arab population, and led to the trapping of millions of Jews in Hitler’s Europe.

“Furthermore, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, a key leader of the Arab population in Palestine, supported and collaborated with Hitler and assisted in recruiting Bosnian Muslims for the Waffen-SS,” they added. “The Arabs in Palestine during the Holocaust did not provide a safe haven for Jews, in fact they sided with the Axis powers. According to many experts, they expected that the eventual arrival of the Nazis and their allies would eliminate the Jewish presence.

“The authenticity of history is vital, not only in ensuring a proper understanding of the past, as it provides guidance to the future,” the CoP leaders concluded.

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Sharia researcher Mohamed Gad El-Zoghby told Egypt’s Safa TV last week, “We should erect a statue of Hitler for what he did to the Jews. . . . [and ] for supporting the Arab cause in Palestine.”

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In a holiday sermon on Friday, the grand mufti of Jerusalem took aim at the US administration, leveling serious accusations in the run up to a regional visit by US envoys Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt.

By: World Israel News Staff

The grand mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, took aim at US President Donald Trump in a fiery sermon on Friday, targeting the president’s peace plan in an address to around 90,000 worshipers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.

Hussein used the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of the month-long Ramadan festival, to declare that Trump’s undisclosed plan is “unfair and aims to liquidate the Palestinian cause,” reported Times of Israel.

While Trump has characterized the agreement as the “ultimate deal,” the Palestinians have repeatedly denounced the plan sight unseen.

Next week, White House special adviser Jared Kushner and US Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt are slated to arrive in the region to discuss the plan’s rollout.

Its prospects look bleak, however, with the Palestinian Authority maintaining a moratorium on contact with Washington in an attempt to punish the US for moving its embassy in Israel to the capital, Jerusalem. Since that move’s announcement, the Palestinians have claimed the US is disqualified as a Mideast peace broker.

According to a recent Channel 10 report in Israel, notwithstanding the current absence of any planned sit-downs with Palestinian officials during the upcoming US visit, the American team is open to a meeting with the Palestinian side and is committed to impartiality in its dealings with Israelis and Palestinians.

“Our peace plan won’t be the [Netanyahu] plan. It will be fair, balanced, realistic and fitting,” the Channel 10 report quoted a US official as saying.

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