The extremist Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, on Tuesday morning, stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, from the Mughrabi Gate, under tight security guards of the Israeli occupation police.
For the first time since his assumption of the position at the Ministry of National Security, Ben Gvir stormed Al-Aqsa, as he arrived in the early morning hours at Al-Buraq Square after the General Security Service Shin Bet allowed him to storm the holy site of Al-Aqsa.
The raid took place without prior announcement and after Israeli sources reported that he decided to postpone the visit after a request from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Social media users circulated videos showing Ben Gvir the moment he entered the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, amid tight security, before leaving after only 13 minutes.
After the visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque, Ben Gvir took to Twitter and wrote, “The Israeli government of which I am a member will not surrender to a vile murdering organization. The Temple Mount is open to everyone and if Hamas thinks that if it threatens me it will deter me, let them understand that times have changed. There is a government in Jerusalem!”
Former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid considered, on Monday, the intention of the Minister of National Security, leader of the far-right “Jewish Power” party, Itamar Ben Gvir, to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque as a “provocation that will lead to violence,” and called for preventing him from doing so.
Opposition leader Lapid said in a tweet, “Itamar Ben Gvir should not go up to the Temple Mount, as this is a provocation that will lead to violence and endanger people’s lives.”
In turn, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the Israeli minister’s storming of the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and considered it an “unprecedented provocation.”
On Sunday, Ben Gvir announced in a tweet his intention to storm Al-Aqsa in the next few days, saying that Al-Aqsa “is an important issue, and as I said, I plan to ascend to the Temple Mount.”
Ben Gvir has stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque repeatedly in the past, but in his personal capacity and then in his capacity as a deputy in the Knesset.
Gvir had promised, during his election campaign, to storm the mosque if he became a minister.
Itamar Ben Gvir is a far-right Israeli politician who has held the position of Israeli Minister of National Security since December 29, 2022 and was previously elected to the Knesset for the first time, in 2021.
On Thursday, Netanyahu was sworn in as prime minister of the most extreme right-wing government in Israel’s history.
