GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 151

Temple Mount Access Debated

Something We All Knew

Almost from the start I’ve been saying that Hamas attacked on October 7th alone, but apparently it was only four of its leadership that decision as we see in an article in The Jerusalem Post:

Yahya Sinwar, Hamas chief in Gaza, has been the object of criticism within the Hamas leadership for launching the October 7 attack without prior consultation with other Hamas leaders, according to a Sky News Arabia report on Tuesday.

According to sources who spoke with the news outlet, those who made the decision to attack were Sinwar, along with his brother Muhammad Sinwar, Muhammad Deif, Hamas military chief, and Marwan Issa, Hamas’s Deputy Military Commander. The four had not consulted the rest of the Hamas leadership and its political bureau, who were ignorant of the decision.

According to the article, this news was reported on earlier this year:

A report published by a-Sharq el-Awsat in January, based on Palestinian sources close to the al-Qassam Brigades, claimed that the decision to attack was made solely by five Hamas leaders, among whom were Sinwar, Sinwar’s brother, Deif, Rouhi Mushtaha, a Hamas official close associate of Sinwar and Ayman Nofal, close to Deif and previous leader of the al-Qassam Brigades’ intelligence.

Interestingly, in the January report, Issa was not included in the close list of confidants.

The exact timing of the attack was kept under wraps:

In addition, the report stated that the decision to attack and its timing were taken only on October 6, a day prior to October 7.

To ensure secrecy, many of Hamas's field commanders were not made privy to the specific details of the attack while leaders of the al-Qassam Brigade units received information concerning the attack some three days before.

According to the a-Sharq el-Awsat report, only a few hours prior to the attack did details concerning the attack pervade to a larger circle of Hamas leaders, among whom were Ismail Haniyeh, leader of Hamas’s political bureau and Saleh Arouri, a senior Hamas leader.

In an earlier report from The Jerusalem Post, the plans to attack from the south of Gaza could explain why Israel didn’t consider it to be actionable:

According to the report, those involved in the operation were selected from Hamas’s elite units across various areas in Gaza, having undergone extensive training over the years – without knowing exactly what they were training for.

In fact, the report claims that the plan to invade Israel is not new but dated back to before the 2014 Gaza conflict and was revisited and updated after the 2021 Gaza conflict…Although the IDF did discover aspects of the plans, it did not discover the seriousness of the plans and discounted them as a Hamas “pipedream,” and not something which actually needed to be countered.

If the report is correct, part of why Israeli intelligence likely discounted the scenario is because it had existed since 2014 and had never been carried out.

We won’t know specifically if this played into the surprise attack, but it could explain things.

Not Everyone Wants Free Access To The Temple Mount

Inside Israel’s government there is strong disagreement over access to the Temple Mount as seen in a report from The Times Of Israel:

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “endangering the citizens of Israel,” after he confirmed that Israel will not change the number of worshippers allowed to pray on the Temple Mount during the first week of Ramadan compared to previous years.

Ben Gvir went on to explain why he feels this way:

“The decision to allow a similar ascension to the Temple Mount on Ramadan as in previous years shows that Netanyahu and the limited [war] cabinet think that nothing happened on October 7,” Army Radio reports the ultra-nationalist minister as saying. “The decision endangers the citizens of Israel and may allow an image of victory for Hamas.”

He added this on his X account:

Ben Gvir also took to X, formerly Twitter, with criticism of the decision, writing that “Hamas celebrations on the Temple Mount” are not the “total victory” Israel promised to achieve over the Gaza terror group.

Ben Gvir has reason to believe that things will get violent after comments from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIF) said they wanted to turn Ramadan into a “month of terror” in a statement reported on in All Israel News:

The Iranian-backed terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) reportedly said it plans to turn the upcoming Muslim holiday of Ramadan into a “month of terror” against the Jewish state.

PIJ, an ally of the Hamas terrorist organization, is also located in the Gaza Strip and warned that it will increase the levels of terrorism in the coastal enclave, as well as in Judea and Samaria, internationally known as the West Bank.

PIJ spokesman for the Al-Quds Brigades, Abu Hamza, issued the terror threats in a video message ahead of the Ramadan holiday, which begins next Sunday.

The PIJ also called on all Arab states to join their fight:

The senior PIJ official also urged Arab states to not “lag behind in the battle led by the heroes of the resistance in the Gaza Strip, on behalf of the Islamic nation, especially those who possess armies, planes and cannons.”

Hamza urged the wider Arab world to join the fight.

“Isn’t it time for you to raise your guns like the free people in Yemen, Lebanon, and Iraq? Isn’t it time for you to take off the garment of slavery and humiliation to America, the Great Satan, and follow the example of the honorable,” Hamza asked rhetorically.

Temple Mount Access Unchanged For Ramadan

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fully wants the freedom to worship on the Temple Mount to not change this year. We read more on this in an article from i24news.tv:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has initiated discussions on the preparations for the upcoming month of Ramadan, emphasizing Israel's commitment to maintaining freedom of worship for all religions.

During the opening remarks of the discussion, Netanyahu reaffirmed Israel's longstanding policy of upholding religious freedom, particularly during the Ramadan holiday. He pledged to ensure that Muslims can observe the holiday with freedom and dignity while prioritizing security and safety measures.

"We will do everything to preserve the freedom of worship on the Temple Mount, while appropriately maintaining security and safety needs, and we will allow the Muslim public to celebrate the holiday," Netanyahu stated.

Netanyahu is getting input from Israel’s security and defense leaders on the subject:

This announcement comes as the Israeli government considers recommendations from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), police, and Shin Bet not to impose restrictions on Arab Israeli worshipers at Jerusalem's Temple Mount during Ramadan.

Security chiefs, including IDF Chief Herzi Halevi, Police Chief Kobi Shabtai, and Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar, are reportedly in agreement on maintaining security arrangements during Ramadan. They are concerned that imposing restrictions could escalate tensions amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

And in a report from The Times Of Israel, Netanyahu’s decision is to not change access as he is overruling Ben Givr’s restrictions:

“In the first week of Ramadan, the number of worshippers allowed to enter the Temple Mount will be as in previous years,” says the Prime Minister’s Office.

“Every week there will be a situational assessment around security and safety, and 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 pledges.

Who is right about the security issue? We’ll find out shortly as Ramadan starts in five days.