Israeli minister forces his way into Al-Aqsa Mosque

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir once again forced his way into the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem.

Ben-Gvir entered the site under heavy police protection and toured the mosque’s courtyard, said an official with the Jordan-run Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem.

This was his fifth visit to the flashpoint complex since he joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in 2022.

It coincided with the week-long Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which started on Thursday.

The National Democratic Alliance, an Israeli Arab party, condemned Ben-Gvir’s tour of the Al-Aqsa complex as a “deliberate provocation to the sentiments of Arabs and Muslims around all the world.”

The party called on Palestinians to intensify their presence and visits to the mosque.

Since 2003, Israel has allowed illegal settlers into the flashpoint 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. It is Islam’s first prayer direction (qibla) and the site of Prophet Muhammad Peace Be Upon Him’s Ascension to the heavens. According to tradition, the Prophet Peace Be Upon Him is, said to have led a prayer congregation of all the prophets preceding him, at Al Aqsa.

On the other hand, Jews insist on calling the area the ‘Temple Mount,’ saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.