The raid was the first by the far-right minister since Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza on October 7.
Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday, the Anadolu news agency reported.
The raid was the first by the far-right minister since Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza on October 7.
According to Anadolu, the Jordan-run Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem did not provide any details about Ben-Gvir’s intrusion into the site.
Anadolu correspondent reported that Ben-Gvir was escorted by heavy police presence as he entered the complex.
Wednesday’s raid was the fourth by Ben-Gvir since he became a national security minister in 2022.
Since 2003, Israel has allowed illegal Jewish settlers into the holy compound on an almost daily basis.
Al Aqsa Mosque is the world’s third-holiest site for Muslims.
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.
BREAKING NOW: After Norway, Spain, and Ireland recognized the Palestinian state, Israeli Minister of National Security Ben-Gvir storms Al Aqsa mosque as a way of provocation.
Lunatics are running the asylum. pic.twitter.com/LqMEcoIUqK
— Khalissee (@Kahlissee) May 22, 2024
‘Aggressive Act’
In a statement on Wednesday, the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas condemned “the act of the fascist zionist minister Itamar Ben Gvir storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque”.
The “aggressive act (…) will not grant the occupation legitimacy over our sanctities, which will remain Arab and Islamic despite the nazi Zionist occupation,” the statement added.
Hamas also called “upon our Palestinian people in Al-Quds, the West Bank, and the occupied interior to confront the systematic judaization campaign against the Al-Aqsa Mosque, to intensify their presence there, to journey to it, and to stand as a strong barrier against all attempts to desecrate and judaize it.”
“We also urge the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to move effectively against the imminent zionist threat to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and all our Islamic and Christian sanctities,” the statement concluded.
Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir hungry to start a war with Hezbollah, while the TV presenter is clearly uncomfortable listening to his venom pic.twitter.com/McpDu3qVkY
— Sarah Wilkinson (@swilkinsonbc) January 20, 2024
Gaza Genocide
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 35,709 Palestinians have been killed, and 79,990 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
(PC, Anadolu)
Gvir is a piece of shit.