Israel shuts down offices of Islamic organs over unrest at holy site

Israeli security services on Monday shut down offices of three Islamic organizations in northern Israel over unrest at the holy site of Jerusalem's Temple Mount, the Shin Bet security agency said in a statement.

According to the Shin Bet, the organization operated along with the police's special 433 Lahav Unit and shut down the offices of the three Islamic organizations located in Nazareth.

The move came after the Defense Ministry's decision in December to ban them as "illegal associations."

The raid took place on Monday at the offices of "Ruad al-Aqsa" "Al-Jaffar Fund for Art and Literature" and "Muslims for Al-Aqsa," all believed to be funded by the radical northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel.

The defense establishment suspects the organizations paid activists in order to cause unrest at Temple Mount and prevent Jews from approaching the site.

According to the Shin Bet, the organizations sought to "undercut the security of visitors to the Temple Mount compound and cause an escalation of tension and even disturbances, while impinging on Israel's sovereignty of the complex."

The organization stressed these activities fanned the already high flames of tensions in the sensitive site, which is holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians.

There have been frequent clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians at the site in the past several months and also led to several militant attacks.

The site is home to the al-Aqsa Mosque, holy to Muslims and was the location of the second Jewish Temple. Jewish practitioners are allowed to pray at the foothill of the mount, at the Wailing Wall, but they cannot pray at the site, only visit it.

Israel occupied the site from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast War from Jordan. Following the 1994 peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, the Israeli security forces secure the site and enforce the status quo, while the Muslim Waqf has administrative control over it. Endit