Editing Israeli–Palestinian conflict (section)

=== Status of Jerusalem ===
{{Main|Status of Jerusalem}}
{{See also|Western Wall|Temple Mount|Al-Aqsa Mosque}}
[[File:Greater Jerusalem May 2006 CIA remote-sensing map 3500px.jpg|thumb|Greater Jerusalem, May 2006. [[CIA]] [[remote sensing]] map showing what the CIA regards as settlements, plus refugee camps, fences, and walls]]

In 1967, Israel [[Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem|unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem]], in violation of international law. Israel seized a significant area further east of the city, eventually creating a barrier of Israeli settlements around the city, isolating Jerusalem's Palestinian population from the West Bank.<ref>{{harvnb|Scott-Baumann|2023}}: "The Israeli government proceeded to annex East Jerusalem. This act violated international law, and the United Nations General Assembly condemned it... Furthermore, Israel confiscated a large swath of land to the east of the city that would, in time, form a barrier of Israeli settlements surrounding the city, thus cutting off the Palestinian population of Jerusalem from its West Bank hinterland."</ref> Israel's policy of constructing sprawling Jewish neighborhoods surrounding the Palestinian sections of the city were aimed at making a repartition of the city almost impossible. In a further effort to change the demography of Jerusalem in favor of a Jewish majority, Israel discouraged Palestinian presence in the city while encouraging Jewish presence, as a matter of policy. Specifically, Israel introduced policies restricting the space available for the construction of Palestinian neighborhoods, delaying or denying building permits and raising housing demolition orders.<ref name="SelaJerusalem" /> Tensions in Jerusalem are primarily driven by provocations by Israeli authorities and Jewish extremists against Arabs in the city.<ref>{{cite book|author=Avraham Sela|title=Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YJwsAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA|year=2002|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-0-8264-1413-7|page=495}}: "Arab-Jewish tensions stemmed from incidents in and around the Temple Mount (al-haram al-sharif) and provocative actions by Jewish extremists against Arabs. Particularly frustrating from a Palestinian viewpoint were the constant efforts made by the Israeli authorities to settle Jews in purely Arab neighborhoods by purchasing Arab or church property, or to appropriate inhabited Arab property by legal means on the grounds that it had been originally owned by Jews."</ref>

The Israeli government, including the [[Knesset]] and [[Supreme Court of Israel|Supreme Court]], is located in the "new city" of West Jerusalem and has been since Israel's founding in 1948. After Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1967, it assumed complete administrative control of East Jerusalem. Since then, various UN bodies have consistently denounced Israel's control over East Jerusalem as invalid.<ref name="SelaJerusalem" /> In 1980, Israel passed the [[Jerusalem Law]] declaring "Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel."<ref name="kbl">[https://www.knesset.gov.il/laws/special/eng/basic10_eng.htm "Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel (Unofficial translation)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140905144734/http://www.knesset.gov.il/laws/special/eng/basic10_eng.htm |date=5 September 2014 }}. ''www.knesset.gov.il''. Passed by the Knesset on the 17th Av, 5740 (30 July 1980).</ref>{{better source needed|date=May 2023}}

Many countries do not recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, with exceptions being the United States,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Diamond |first1=Jeremy |last2=Labott |first2=Elise |date=6 December 2017 |title=Trump recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital |url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/06/politics/president-donald-trump-jerusalem/index.html |work=[[CNN]] |access-date=7 December 2017 |archive-date=26 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126162000/https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/06/politics/president-donald-trump-jerusalem/index.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and Russia.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ahren |first=Raphael |date=6 April 2017 |title=In curious twist, Russia recognizes West Jerusalem as Israel's capital |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-historic-first-russia-recognizes-west-jerusalem-as-israels-capital/ |work=[[Times of Israel]] |location=Jerusalem |access-date=7 December 2017 |archive-date=22 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922054758/https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-historic-first-russia-recognizes-west-jerusalem-as-israels-capital/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The majority of UN member states and most international organisations do not recognise Israel's claims to East Jerusalem which occurred after the 1967 Six-Day War, nor its 1980 Jerusalem Law proclamation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/DDE590C6FF232007852560DF0065FDDB |title=UN security Council Resolution 478 |publisher=unispal.un.org |access-date=23 August 2017 |archive-date=12 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012044309/https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/DDE590C6FF232007852560DF0065FDDB |url-status=dead}}</ref> The International Court of Justice in its 2004 Advisory opinion on the "Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory" described East Jerusalem as "occupied Palestinian territory".<ref name=RL2008>{{cite web |last=Lapidoth |first=Ruth |title=Jerusalem – Some Legal Issues |url=http://www.jiis.org/.upload/lapidoth-jerusalem.pdf |publisher=The Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies |access-date=7 April 2013 |pages=21–26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605013337/http://www.jiis.org/.upload/lapidoth-jerusalem.pdf |archive-date=5 June 2014 |url-status=dead}} Reprinted from: Rüdiger Wolfrum (Ed.), The Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law ([[Oxford University Press]], online 2008–, print 2011).</ref>

The three largest [[Abrahamic religions]]—[[Judaism]], [[Christianity]], and [[Islam]]—hold Jerusalem as an important setting for their religious and historical narratives. Jerusalem is the holiest city in Judaism, being the former location of the Jewish temples on the [[Temple Mount]] and the capital of the ancient Israelite kingdom. For Muslims, Jerusalem is the third holiest site, being the location of the [[Isra' and Mi'raj]] event, and the [[Al-Aqsa Mosque]]. For Christians, Jerusalem is the site of [[crucifixion of Jesus|Jesus' crucifixion]] and the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]].

==== Holy sites and the Temple Mount ====
[[File:Klagemauer.JPG|thumb|upright=1.35|Panorama of the [[Western Wall]] with the [[Dome of the Rock]] (left) and [[Qibli Mosque|al-Aqsa mosque]] (right) in the background]]

Since the early 20th century, the issue of [[Holy Land|holy places]] and particularly the sacred places in Jerusalem has been employed by nationalist politicians.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Reiter |first1=Yitzhak |title=Contested Holy Places in Israel–Palestine: Sharing and Conflict Resolution |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781351998857 |page=xiii}}</ref>

Israelis did not have access to the holy places in East Jerusalem during the period of Jordanian rule.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Breger |first1=Marshall J. |last2=Reiter |first2=Yitzhak|date=2010 |last3=Hammer |first3=Leonard |title=Holy Places in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Confrontation and Co-Existence |publisher=Taylor & Francis Group |isbn=9780203867457 |chapter=Regulation of holy places in the West Bank and Gaza|quote=these sites saw simultaneous worship by Jews and Muslims, with the exception of the period of Jordanian rule in the West Bank, between 1948–67, when Jews had no access to these sites}}</ref> Since 1975, Israel has banned Muslims from worshiping at [[Joseph's Tomb]], a shrine considered sacred by both Jews and Muslims. Settlers established a yeshiva, installed a Torah scroll and covered the [[mihrab]]. During the Second Intifada Palestinian protesters looted and burned the site.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gold |first=Dore |author-link=Dore Gold |title=The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West, and the Future of the Holy City |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Regnery Publishing |date=2007 |pages=5–6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter=Targeting Heritage: The Abuse of Symbolic Sites in Modern Conflicts |title=Marketing heritage: archaeology and the consumption of the past |last=Golden |first=Jonathan |editor1-last=Rowan |editor1-first=Yorke M. |editor2-last=Baram |editor2-first=Uzi |publisher=Rowman Altamira |year=2004 |pages=183–202 |isbn=978-0-7591-0342-9 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1W6BWEWdJWQC&pg=PA183 |access-date=29 October 2015 |archive-date=9 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231009012925/https://books.google.com/books?id=1W6BWEWdJWQC&pg=PA183#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref> Israeli security agencies routinely monitor and arrest Jewish extremists that plan attacks, though many serious incidents have still occurred.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Extremists – Talking With Jewish Extremists &#124; Israel's Next War? |work=[[Frontline (American TV program)|Frontline]] |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/israel/extreme/nameof.html |access-date=5 March 2022 |publisher=[[PBS]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012044654/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/israel/extreme/nameof.html |archive-date=12 October 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Israel has allowed almost complete autonomy to the Muslim trust ([[Waqf]]) over the Temple Mount.<ref name="SelaJerusalem">{{harvnb|Sela|2002|pp=491–498|chapter="Jerusalem"}}</ref>

Palestinians have voiced concerns regarding the welfare of Christian and Muslim holy places under Israeli control.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Peled |first=Alisa Rubin |title=Debating Islam in the Jewish State: The Development of Policy toward Islamic Institutions in Israel |date=2001 |publisher=[[State University of New York Press]] |page=96 |oclc=929622466 |quote=In general, Israeli policy towards holy places can be considered a success with regard to its primary goal: facilitating Israel's acceptance into the international community of nations. However, the repeated failure of the Muslim Affairs Department to fulfill its mandate of protecting the Muslim holy places in Israel has been a largely forgotten chapter in Israeli history that deserves reexamination}}</ref> Additionally, some Palestinian advocates have made statements alleging that the [[Western Wall Tunnel]] was re-opened with the intent of causing the mosque's collapse.<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 March 2008 |title=Secret tunnel under Al-Aqsa Mosque exposed |url=https://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008%252F03%252F27%252F47501.html |access-date=5 March 2022 |website=[[Al Arabiya English]] |language=en |archive-date=9 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809080532/https://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/03/27/47501.html |url-status=live}}</ref>