Israeli minister performs prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque
Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir once again stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque and performed Jewish prayers in its courtyard under the protection of Israeli police. In what has been described as a ‘provocative act’,… pic.twitter.com/b4ETzjy3K2
— Middle East Monitor (@MiddleEastMnt) April 3, 2025
Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir forced his way into Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday, marking a new provocation amid the ongoing war on Gaza.
Ben-Gvir entered the flashpoint site along with illegal settlers and a heavy police presence and toured the mosque’s courtyard, a few days ahead of the Jewish Passover holiday on 12-20 April, an official from the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem told Anadolu. The extremist minister was accompanied by at least 24 Jewish settlers during his incursion, he added.
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry denounced Ben-Gvir’s incursion as “a deliberate provocation” and a violation of Al-Aqsa Mosque’s “established historical and legal status quo.” The ministry stressed that Israel has “no sovereignty over occupied Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites.”
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas decried the raid as “a dangerous escalation as part of the [Israeli] genocidal war against the Palestinian people.” It called on the Palestinians to escalate confrontations with the Israeli army in defence of the holy site and urged the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League to “take effective actions” to stop Israel’s systematic violations against Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The incursion was the sixth by the far-right minister into the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa since he joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in 2022.
Since the outbreak of the Gaza war on 7 October, 2023, the Israeli authorities have imposed strict measures limiting Palestinians’ access from the occupied West Bank to East Jerusalem. Palestinians consider these restrictions to be part of Israel’s broader efforts to Judaise East Jerusalem, where the sacred site is located, and erase its Arab and Islamic identity.
Since 2003, Israel has allowed Jewish settlers into the compound on an almost daily basis with the exception of Fridays and Saturdays.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world’s third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognised by the international community.
All of Israel’s settlements and the Jewish settlers who live in them are illegal under international law.