Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has reportedly instructed police in Jerusalem to carry out demolitions of homes during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins on March 22, and which could ignite more flare-ups between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

The Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported that Ben-Gvir, a far right ultranationalist figure in the Benjamin Netanyahu government, ordered the demolition of "illegally constructed homes" in East Jerusalem, an especially sensitive point in Palestinian neighborhoods, where restrictions mount and licenses to build homes are rarely granted by Israel. 

Israel occupied East Jerusalem in1967 along with the West Bank and Gaza. Since then, "an estimated 58,000 settler homes have been built in East Jerusalem compared with just 600 Palestinian dwellings," Daniel Seidman, an Israeli lawyer specializing in Jerusalem told the Washington Post last month.

Ben-Gvir’s order on East Jerusalem goes against a decision taken by Israel's security agencies of suspending such moves during Ramadan, considered a sensitive time for Israeli-Palestinian relations. This year, the Jewish holiday of Passover falls during the month of Ramadan (April 5-12), further complicating the situation. Thousands of Israelis are set to visit Jerusalem during Passover, including an expected rise in visits to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City.