Israeli terror group calls for ‘demolition’ of Dome of Rock

A far-right Israeli group, which has earned infamy among Palestinians as a “terrorist” outfit, has called for the “demolition” of the Dome of Rock, a hugely-revered monument by the world’s Muslim community that lies on the al-Aqsa Mosque’s compound.

Bentzi Gopstein, the Lehava group’s ringleader, put out the call in an online post on Wednesday.

He called on extremist illegal settlers to storm the site and begin taking it apart.

“May 29 is the day the demolition of the Dome of the Rock will begin,” Gopstein wrote.

The occasion falls on the anniversary of the day, when the Israeli regime completed its occupation of the holy city of al-Quds — where the al-Aqsa Mosque is located — during a heavily Western-backed war in 1967.

Gopstein claimed that the Dome of Rock’s demolition would pave the way for the construction of an Israeli temple at the site.

The Lehava group published a poster on social media showing an excavator next to the Dome of the Rock. In another poster, another excavator appeared to be carrying debris from the site.

The Palestinian Authority’s ministry of foreign affairs condemned Lehava’s call, describing it as a “terrorist group.”

Al-Aqsa Mosque is Islam’s third holiest site. Extremist Israeli settlers regularly violate the compound under heavy protection provided by the Israeli military, performing prayers at the site.

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This is while a longstanding agreement between the Israeli regime and Jordan, which administers the affairs of the mosque, bars non-Muslim prayer there.