Israel's Ben-Gvir along with hundreds of settlers storm Al-Aqsa mosque

JERUSALEM: Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, along with hundreds of Israeli settlers, stormed the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem on Sunday, violating the sanctity of the sacred site.

Ben-Gvir said he prayed in Al-Aqsa mosque, challenging rules covering one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East.

The Waqf, the foundation that administers the complex on a hillside in Jerusalem’s walled Old City, said Ben-Gvir was among another 1,250 who ascended the site and who it said prayed, shouted and danced.

Under a delicate decades-old “status quo” arrangement with Muslim authorities, the Al-Aqsa compound is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation and Jews can visit but may not pray there.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement after Ben-Gvir’s visit that Israel’s policy of maintaining the status quo at the compound “has not changed and will not change”.

Videos released by a small Jewish organisation called the Temple Mount Administration showed Ben-Gvir leading a group walking in the compound. Other videos circulating online appeared to show him praying.

Israel’s official position accepts the rules restricting non-Muslim prayer at the compound, which is Islam’s third holiest site and the most sacred site in Judaism.

Ben-Gvir said in a statement he prayed for Israel’s victory over Palestinian group Hamas in the war in Gaza and for the return of Israeli hostages being held by militants there. He repeated his call for Israel to conquer the entire Gaza.

Suggestions that Israel would alter rules at the Al-Aqsa compound have sparked outrage in the Muslim world and ignited protests in the past.

A spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Ben-Gvir’s visit, which he said “crossed all red lines.”

“The international community, specifically the U.S. administration, is required to intervene immediately to put an end to the crimes of the settlers and the provocations of the extreme right-wing government in Al-Aqsa mosque, stop the war on the Gaza Strip and bring in humanitarian aid,” Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement.