Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound once again on Wednesday, under heavy police protection and without prior public announcement, according to a statement by the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem.
اضافة اعلان
The Waqf confirmed that Ben Gvir entered the mosque courtyards accompanied by Israeli police officers. This marks yet another of his repeated incursions into the sacred site, despite widespread condemnation from Arab and Islamic countries.
Such visits by senior Israeli officials are typically pre-approved by the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Since taking office at the end of 2022, Ben Gvir has carried out multiple high-profile visits to the site, which is considered the third holiest in Islam and a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
His most recent prior incursion was on May 27, when he entered the compound alongside government officials, Knesset members, and over 2,000 Israeli settlers, coinciding with Jerusalem Day—the anniversary of Israel’s 1967 occupation of East Jerusalem, as marked on the Hebrew calendar. That event drew strong Palestinian and Arab denunciations.
Ben Gvir’s latest action comes just one day after the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Norway imposed sanctions on him and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, in response to their repeated incitement to violence against Palestinians.
The sanctions include asset freezes and entry bans in the respective countries, further escalating international criticism of the Israeli government's far-right ministers.
Notably, Israel began allowing settler incursions into the Al-Aqsa compound in 2003, despite ongoing opposition from the Islamic Waqf, which administers the site.
– (Anadolu Agency)
