Israel's Ben-Gvir sparks outcry by storming Al-Aqsa Mosque compound
Palestine's Foreign Ministry condemned what it described as repeated incursions by Ben-Gvir and settlers into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Israel's far-right police minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem, saying he was seeking greater access for Jewish worshippers, drawing condemnation from Palestine and Jordan.
"Today, I feel like the owner here," National Security Minister Ben-Gvir said in a video filmed at the site.
"There is still more to do, more to improve. I keep pushing the Prime Minister to do more and more — we must keep rising higher and higher."
Ben-Gvir, who has stormed the mosque compound at least 16 times since taking office in 2022, is part of a growing illegal settler movement in Israel.
Palestine's Foreign Ministry condemned what it described as repeated incursions by Ben-Gvir and settlers into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
The ministry said the visits aim to normalise illegal settler incursions and impose a temporal and spatial division of the mosque and its courtyards.
It warned that the moves come amid escalating violations against Islamic and Christian holy sites in occupied East Jerusalem, alongside restrictions on worshippers and tightening controls in the Old City.
The ministry rejected all Israeli measures and legislation aimed at altering the legal and historical status of East Jerusalem, describing them as "null and void" under international law.
A statement from the Jordanian foreign ministry said it considered Ben-Gvir's assault a "desecration of its sanctity, a condemnable escalation and an unacceptable provocation."
The ministry said the move constitutes "a violation of the historical and legal status quo in the Haram al-Sharif, a desecration of its sanctity, a condemnable escalation and an unacceptable provocation."
It stressed its "absolute rejection and condemnation" of continued incursions and the facilitation of such actions by Israeli police.
Jordan warned that the move is "a provocative act aimed at imposing new realities in Al-Aqsa Mosque" through attempts to divide it temporally and spatially.