The tensions that have been going on for days in Al-Aqsa Mosque , east of Jerusalem, herald a larger and more comprehensive escalation, which may include a multi-front confrontation, according to Palestinian observers.

In a remarkable and unprecedented manner, Israel was subjected to rocket fire from southern Lebanon, then from Syria , as well as from the Gaza Strip , at a time when shooting operations continued in the West Bank , leaving deaths and injuries.

This came after Al-Aqsa Mosque witnessed, since the beginning of Ramadan, night clashes, following its storming by the Israeli police to remove the worshipers who were inside it, claiming that they were armed with stones and fireworks.

Video clips showed masked policemen armed with batons assaulting the worshipers by beating them and firing tear gas and sound bombs, which resulted in the injury and arrest of hundreds and sparked Arab and international criticism.

As a result, the Palestinian Presidency warned the Israeli government not to cross the "red lines" in the holy places, which threatens "a big explosion and ignition of fires in the region."

On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel is working "to preserve the current situation and calm the atmosphere in the Al-Aqsa Mosque," stressing its commitment to "preserving freedom of worship and allowing people of all religions to access the holy places without hindrance."

Letters exchanged with fire

Observers warn, in separate statements to Xinhua, that Israel's escalation of its measures and practices in Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of the most sensitive sites for Muslims, is worsening the security situation and threatening reactions and attacks from multiple fronts.

Ahmed Rafiq Awad, a professor of political science at Al-Quds University, says that Israel "was surprised by the presence of unity in the arenas and coordination in action against it, and resorted to limited reactions in order to avoid opening a confrontation with several fronts simultaneously."

Awad believes that Israel "is experiencing an internal crisis that has made it confused and turbulent, and its political decision is not unified and inconsistent, which explains its measured response, which included a kind of containment of responses."

It is believed that the arena is set for greater tension in the coming days, although all parties do not want to enter into a large-scale confrontation, pointing out that the West Bank and Syria fronts are most likely to see further escalation on the ground.

During the month of Ramadan in 2021, Al-Aqsa Mosque witnessed clashes between the Israeli police and Palestinian worshipers, which escalated into a round of fighting in the Gaza Strip that lasted for 11 days between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

The mosque is a permanent address of tension in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

This includes the "tunnel gift", which erupted in 1996 in protest against Israel's digging and opening of the western tunnel under Al-Aqsa Mosque, which lasted for six months throughout the Palestinian territories.

In the year 2000, the visit of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon triggered the second Palestinian uprising, known as the "Al-Aqsa Intifada", which lasted for several years.

Extensive explosion hazard

Talal Okal, a writer and political analyst from Gaza, says that the recurrence of Israel's "attacks" on Al-Aqsa Mosque and its worshipers "cannot have repercussions without Palestinian reactions."

Okal stresses that Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque have an Arab and Islamic status, "therefore there is more than one indication suggesting that the coming period may witness an escalation of confrontations with Israel from more than one place."

He points out that the situation in the Palestinian territories has changed in light of the presence of the current Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, who is more "right-wing, bloody and extremist", and that this government sees itself in charge of resolving the conflict in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

He believes that the Israeli response to limited rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, southern Lebanon and Syria "provided indications to the Palestinian factions of a decline in Israel's deterrence."

Netanyahu and his far-right allies won 64 seats in the elections held on November 1, and his new government was sworn in on December 29, to be the most right-wing government in Israel's history.

Since the government assumed its duties, tensions have escalated between the Palestinians and the Israelis in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Since the beginning of this year, 96 Palestinians have been killed, compared to the killing of 18 people in Israel in Palestinian attacks.

Palestinian reactions

Prior to the month of Ramadan, two meetings were held in Aqaba and Sharm el-Sheikh with the participation of representatives from the United States of America, Jordan and Egypt, as well as Israel and the Palestinian Authority, in an attempt to stop the deterioration of security in the Palestinian territories.

The head of the political science department at Hebron University, Bilal Al-Shobaki, told Xinhua that the Palestinian attacks are not a spur of the moment, but rather a reaction to the practices of the Israeli authorities in the towns, villages and cities of the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Al-Shobaki considers that Netanyahu "finds himself facing a fundamental dilemma, as he presents himself as being able to arrange the situation at the regional level to ensure calm in the Gaza arena, or southern Lebanon, but he is surprised by the intensity of Palestinian operations that are not organizationally motivated."

Al-Shobaki agrees with his predecessors that Israeli society is "not ready" to receive the scale of reactions on several fronts simultaneously, whether in the Gaza Strip, southern Lebanon or Syria, noting that Israel "is reaping what it sowed in the past period and must stop the escalation."