RAMALLAH, West Bank — Tension has been growing at the Bab al-Rahma (Mercy Gate) prayer house on the grounds of the Al-Aqsa mosque complex, particularly since the deadline for Palestinians to close the building is now over and Israeli-Jordanian talks to resolve the crisis failed. Israel’s Antiquities Authority entered the Bab al-Rahma prayer house, with back-up from a large contingent of Israeli police, March 10, and took measurements of the premises and walls, and pictures of the prayer house.
Israel's Magistrates Court in Jerusalem on March 4 gave the Islamic Waqf (Endowment) Council one week to comply with the prosecution’s order to shut down the Bab al-Rahma building. The situation could now go in any direction, as the deadline has passed and the council did not repond to the court's request.
