Israeli far-right minister renews calls to ‘occupy’ Gaza
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the minister of national security, has renewed calls for Israel to declare sovereignty over Gaza and for Palestinians to leave the enclave.
He wrote in a post on X that a “message must be sent: to ensure that we conquer all of the Gaza Strip, declare sovereignty over the entire Gaza Strip, take down every Hamas member, and encourage voluntary migration”.
“Only in this way will we bring back the hostages and win the war,” he added.
The Israeli minister’s comments came after he led a march of settlers through occupied East Jerusalem from late Saturday into early Sunday, the Wafa news agency reported.
Palestinian presidency condemns Israeli far-right minister’s Al-Aqsa Mosque march
A spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has criticised Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, saying it “crossed all red lines”.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh called for immediate international intervention to stop what he described as escalating Israeli provocations and settler violence.
“The international community, specifically the US 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,” he said in a statement.
Earlier, we reported that Ben-Gvir led a march of Israeli settlers through occupied East Jerusalem from late Saturday into early Sunday. In a post on X, he later called on the Israeli government to “conquer” all of Gaza and “declare sovereignty” over the territory.
Jordan slams Israeli minister’s march to Al-Aqsa Mosque as ‘blatant violation’
Jordan condemns in the “strongest terms” the march to Al-Aqsa Mosque led by Israel’s far-right national security minister as a “flagrant violation of international law”.
In a statement on X, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Jordan, as custodian of Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites, considers the repeated incursions by Ben-Gvir and Israeli settlers under the protection of the police as a “blatant violation of the historical and legal status quo” of the mosque.
Spokesperson Sufian al-Qudah “warned of the consequences of the continuation of these provocative and illegitimate violations of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, demanding that Israel, as the occupying power, halt all provocative practices by the extremist minister Ben-Gvir”, the statement read.
These actions “constitute a continuation of the extremist Israeli government’s policy aimed at pursuing dangerous escalation and unilateral actions in the occupied West Bank and violating the sanctity of Islamic and Christian holy sites in occupied Jerusalem,” it added.
Why Ben-Gvir’s march to Al-Aqsa Mosque violated ‘status quo’
As we’ve been reporting, far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stormed Al Aqsa Mosque in the occupied West Bank under police protection.
Ben-Gvir announced that he had prayed at the site, a move that is not allowed under a decades-old “status quo” arrangement, which outlines that Muslims have exclusive control of Al-Aqsa Mosque and are the only ones allowed to pray there.
Non-Muslims are, however, allowed to visit the compound – Islam’s third-holiest site.
Ben-Gvir led Israeli settlers to the mosque compound – known to Jews as the Temple Mount – in violation of the status quo. While Israel’s official position on the religious site accepts the rule restricting non-Muslim prayer, Ben-Gvir has repeatedly called for Jewish prayer to be allowed at the compound.
According to the Waqf, the foundation that administers the complex, Ben-Gvir was among 1,250 who went to the site and prayed, shouted and danced.
Palestinians fear their sovereignty over the compound is being eroded as powerful ministers such as Ben-Gvir have backed the call for Jewish prayers at the holy site.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that Israel’s policy of maintaining the status quo at the compound “has not changed and will not change”.
Saudi Arabia condemns Israeli ‘provocative practices’ at Al-Aqsa Mosque
We have a statement from the Saudi Foreign Ministry following the incursion of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, warning that such actions risk destabilising the region.
The ministry expressed Saudi Arabia’s condemnation “in the strongest terms of the repeated provocative practices by officials of the Israeli occupation authorities against Al-Aqsa Mosque”.
It added that the kingdom “affirms that such practices fuel the conflict in the region”.
The statement also called on the international community “to put an end to the actions of the Israeli occupation officials, which violate international laws and norms and undermine peace efforts in the region”.
