For the tenth time since assuming office, Minister Ben-Gvir storms Al-Aqsa Mosque
On Wednesday morning, extremist Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque from the Dung Gate, accompanied by a number of senior officers and under heavy protection from the occupation forces, who have controlled the keys of Dung Gate since the occupation of Jerusalem.
Ben-Gvir toured the mosque's courtyards and performed public rituals in the usual route of incursions, while the occupation forces imposed restrictions on the entry of Muslim worshippers.
These repeated incursions are part of the escalating policy pursued by Ben-Gvir since assuming his position. He has publicly promoted what he calls the "right of Jews" to Al-Aqsa and called for allowing them to perform their prayers inside it. On the anniversary of the so-called "destruction of the temple" last year, he explicitly announced his intention to build a Jewish synagogue inside Al-Aqsa. This statement was followed by daily collective prayers by settlers in its courtyards, under police protection, in a clear violation of the historical and legal status quo.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Jerusalem reported that Ben-Gvir has stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque ten times since his appointment as minister: three times in 2023, four times in 2024, and three times so far in 2025. This is the sixth such incursion since October 7, 2023, a clear indication of the exploitation of Jewish religious occasions to assert sovereignty over Al-Aqsa Mosque.
In recent months, Israeli violations inside Al-Aqsa Mosque have escalated, with Jewish religious occasions and holidays being exploited to impose biblical rituals within the mosque. For the first time since the occupation of Jerusalem, a settler succeeded this year in bringing an animal sacrifice—a "baby goat"—into Al-Aqsa Mosque through the Al-Ghawanmeh Gate and performed prayers inside, coinciding with the "Little Passover" holiday.
In another dangerous precedent, during the holiday known as the "Shavuot" holiday, settlers stormed the roof of the Dome of the Rock, dressed in clothing intended for slaughter. They brandished the so-called "holy bread" for this holiday, carried a cloth stained with blood, bottles of wine, and bread soaked in it. They then began performing religious rituals by sprinkling water and wine on the ground, specifically near the Dome of the Chain, believing this spot to be the site of the "altar" in the "alleged temple."
Also, public and collective prayers, dancing and singing took place in Al-Aqsa, as well as the public raising of Israeli flags inside it, the blowing of the trumpet, the offering of vegetable sacrifices, and the bringing of prayer tools designated for synagogues.
