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Temple Mount guard arrested over terror ties

Waqf-employed guard reportedly part of terror plot, previously spent time in prison.

By World Israel News Staff

A Waqf-employed guard who works on the Temple Mount was arrested by an Israeli intelligence agency over suspicions he was part of a terror plot, HaKol HaYehudi reported on Thursday.

Fadi Aliyan, an employee of the Jordanian-controlled Waqf (Muslim Trust) administration responsible for the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, was reportedly taken into custody for conspiracy to commit terrorism.

Aliyan, who was previously incarcerated for physically attacking Jews who attempted to pray on the Temple Mount and for inciting riots at the site, was arrested alongside a number of other men, including a relative.

Police forces also raided Aliyan’s home in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Isawiya after his arrest on Tuesday morning.

On Thursday, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court agreed to extend Aliyan’s detention for an additional six days.

While the Waqf has long positioned itself as a group interested solely in preserving the Islamic heritage of the site, rightwing lawmakers and NGOs have noted that the administration has ties to terror groups.

Fadi Abu Shkhayadam, the perpetrator of the late November terror attack that killed a Jewish immigrant from South Africa in the Old City of Jerusalem, reportedly finished an Islamic Studies course under the auspices of the Waqf shortly before carrying out the murder.

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According to HaKol HaYehudi, the course’s subject matter included “resilience strategies” and how to “resist occupation” by Jews attempting to visit the Temple Mount, which is the holiest site in Judaism.

Pictures from the graduation ceremony show Abu Shkhayadam seated in a place of honor directly next to the Waqf’s director, Sheikh Azzam Al-Khatib.

The Hamas-backed terrorist was an Islamic studies teacher in an eastern Jerusalem school and received a paycheck from the municipality.

“Since when my feet have been rooted in the mosque and since I have been imbued with the Koran and the Sunnah, I have been dreaming of the coming meeting with Allah as a Shahid,” he wrote in a note before carrying out the attack.

“Know that I have chosen this path out of a desire to please Allah and out of [an intention] to merit Allah’s heaven. The shortest and most successful life is the one who invested them in Allah and managed to sacrifice his soul for Allah.”