ISRAEL’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City – his third incursion into Islam’s third holiest site this year – as Israel arrested at least 18 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Sunday.
Accompanied by Israeli settlers under heavy protection from Israeli forces, Ben-Gvir offered Jewish prayers at the site, which is not allowed for non-Muslims as part of the status quo arrangement in place since 1967, though Jewish people are permitted to visit the compound.
A statement from Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said it considered Ben-Gvir’s visit to be a violation of the status quo agreement at the site and “a desecration of its sanctity, a condemnable escalation and an unacceptable provocation”.
The Palestinian Authority’s presidency has also condemned the storming of the mosque compound, which has become more frequent in recent years.
In a statement, the presidency said the move was a blatant violation of the historical and legal status quo at the holy site, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
Ben-Gvir, who has stormed the mosque compound at least 16 times since taking office in 2022, is part of a growing settler movement that wants to take over the Al-Aqsa Mosque, with the far-right Israeli minister having expressed his intention to build a Jewish synagogue in place of the holy Muslim site.
“Today, I feel like the owner here,” Ben-Gvir said in a video filmed at the site and distributed by his office. “There is still more to do, more to improve. I keep pushing the prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] to do more and more,” he said.
There has been no comment from Netanyahu’s office so far.
Israel had closed the Al-Aqsa Mosque to the public for 40 days after launching its war on Iran on February 28. Israel often imposes restrictions, especially on Palestinian worshippers, with Israeli authorities also preventing Eid al-Fitr prayers at Al-Aqsa this year – the first such restriction since Israel’s illegal occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967.
The mosque reopened on April 9 to Palestinian worshippers. But later that day, Israeli settlers stormed the compound and performed Talmudic rituals, under the protection of Israeli police, Wafa reported.
Wafa also said that Israeli authorities had extended the daily windows for Israeli settler incursions by an additional 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, Israeli raids have continued across the occupied West Bank, with at least 18 people arrested on Sunday.
Wafa said Israel arrested six Palestinians during a raid on Dheisheh refugee camp, south of Bethlehem.
A child and a young man were also injured by Israeli forces during a raid on the city of Nablus.
Attacks by Israeli forces across Gaza and the occupied West Bank have continued, along with Israel’s wars on Iran and Lebanon.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank since October 2023, with thousands forcibly displaced.