Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Wednesday, Nov 29, 2023

Israel far-right minister enters Al-Aqsa in ‘ unprecedented provocation’

Palestinians have condemned a visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem by a far-right Israeli minister as an "unprecedented provocation".
Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has entered the compound in occupied East Jerusalem, in a move that threatens a backlash from Palestinians.

Ben-Gvir was seen at the site on Tuesday under heavy security.

“Our government will not surrender to the threats of Hamas,” Ben-Gvir said in a statement published by his spokesman, after the Palestinian group that governs the besieged Gaza Strip warned that such a move would cross a “red line”.

Ben-Gvir has long called for greater Jewish access to the holy site, which is viewed by Palestinians as provocative and as a potential precursor to Israel taking complete control over the compound. Leading rabbis forbid Jews from praying on the site.

Ben-Gvir wrote on Twitter after his visit that the site “is open to all and if Hamas thinks that if it threatens me it will deter me, they should understand that times have changed”.

Ofir Gendelman, who has long served as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Arabic-language spokesman, released a video saying that the “situation is completely calm” at the holy site following Ben-Gvir’s departure.

The visit appears to have been calculated to avoid a direct confrontation with Palestinians, having come early in the morning, and a day after Ben-Gvir had appeared to backtrack from his plans, thereby avoiding a gathering of Palestinians at the site.

However, the Palestinian foreign ministry said it “strongly condemns the storming of Al-Aqsa mosque by the extremist minister Ben-Gvir and views it as an unprecedented provocation and a dangerous escalation of the conflict”.

Israel’s opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid had warned on Monday that Ben-Gvir’s planned entrance to the compound would lead to violence, and called it a “deliberate provocation that will put lives in danger”.

Ben-Gvir was sworn in last week as part of a new far-right government led by Benjamin Netanyahu.

At the compound, Islam’s third holiest site after Makkah and Madinah, only Muslim worship is allowed under the status quo. The Israeli far right has been attempting to change this and allow Jewish prayer at the site, despite opposition from many ultra-Orthodox Jews and prohibition from leading rabbis.

Palestinians fear that this may lead to a change to the status quo of the site, as far-right Israelis have been calling for a Jewish temple to be built there in place of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israeli media had reported that Netanyahu had been negotiating with Ben-Gvir after it emerged that he was planning to enter the site, in an effort to get him to call off his plans.

Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’s entrance to the site in 2000 sparked the second Palestinian Intifada or uprising.

Al Jazeera’s Sara Khairat, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, said Ben-Gvir spent a short amount of time in the compound “in the early hours of this morning”.

“That’s no surprise because of the provocation that it would cause especially amongst the Palestinians and the Muslim world,” Khairat said.

“[Ben-Gvir] also has sweeping powers over the police, [so it] came as no surprise that this decision [to enter the Al Aqsa compound] would happen very quickly.

“We’re going to expect a lot of tension from the Palestinians. Already, security has been stepped up amongst the Israelis.”

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem told Al Jazeera that Ben-Gvir’s move “is a continuation of the Zionist occupation’s aggression against our sanctities and its war on its Arab identity.

“Al-Aqsa Mosque was and will remain Palestinian, Arab and Islamic property, and no fascist force or person can change this fact,” he said.

Ben-Gvir’s stated intention of entering the site earlier this week drew threats from Hamas.

“Any escalation in Al-Aqsa Mosque will explode the situation and the occupation government will be responsible for this,” Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua said in a statement published on Monday.

Analyst Nasser al-Hidmi, told Al Jazeera from Jerusalem that he believes “this raid was a publicity stunt” to demonstrate “the occupation’s sovereignty over the Al-Aqsa mosque and that the new government does not bend to threats by the Palestinian armed resistance movements.

“There was an agreement between [Ben-Gvir] and Netanyahu – a discussion – that the raid would take place in this manner in order to both demonstrate sovereignty while also avoiding provoking the Palestinian people in Jerusalem,” al-Hidmi said.

“[The raid] happened at a time when there were few Palestinians inside the Al Aqsa Mosque compound and the visit lasted 13 minutes. All of this is an expression of Ben-Gvir’s fears.”

Ben-Gvir holds far-right views toward the Palestinians and has called for their displacement. He has repeatedly joined Israeli settlers in entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which has led to confrontations with Palestinians in the past.

Israeli forces stormed the compound in May 2021, leading to conflict with Palestinians which led to Israel attacking Gaza later the same month.

Ben-Gvir also caused a wave of escalation in occupied East Jerusalem after setting up an office in February in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, where Palestinians face mass expulsion.

A settler in Kiryat Araba, one of the most right-wing settlements in the illegally occupied West Bank, which is not recognised under international law, Ben-Gvir has been convicted of incitement to racism, destroying property, possessing a “terror” organisation’s propaganda material and supporting a “terror” organisation – Meir Kahane’s outlawed Kach group, which he joined when he was 16.

Ben-Gvir was also notorious for displaying on his wall a picture of Baruch Goldstein, the American Israeli who massacred 29 Palestinian worshippers at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron in 1994.

Last November, Israeli President Isaac Herzog warned in a leaked audio that “the whole world is worried” about Ben-Gvir’s views.

Al-Hidmi said that in the coming year, “more extremism and more violations against the Palestinian people and their holy sites” can be expected.

“Hamas and the armed groups in Gaza are not interested in going into another confrontation with the occupation, but they are interested in mobilising the West Bank. It is clear that the West Bank is responsive to this direction, which is worrying the occupation.”

Palestinian Islamic Jihad spokesperson Tariq Selmi told Al Jazeera that “the resistance is fully prepared and vigilant.

“It is conducting a continuous assessment of everything that is going on, with its hand is on the trigger of action. The bullets of our fighters in Jenin and Nablus will inevitably reach Jerusalem,” Selmi said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian teenager in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials and witnesses said. There was no immediate comment on the incident from the Israeli army.

“Israeli forces turned up in Bethlehem to make an arrest at a refugee camp. In the process, there were a lot of confrontations between Palestinians and Israelis and as a result, a teenager was shot in the chest and killed,” Khairat said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
Close
0:00
0:00
Here is a video showing the moment of the release of the captives by the terrorist organization Hamas and their transfer to the Red Cross on their way back to the State of Israel.
Here is a video showing the moment of the release of the captives by the terrorist organization Hamas and their transfer to the Red Cross on their way back to the State of Israel.
Bill Gates Envisions a Possible 3-Day Work Week with AI
Abu Dhabi-Backed Fund Poised to Assume Control of UK's Telegraph Media Group
Biden Advocates for Palestinian Authority to Govern Gaza and West Bank
Apple and Disney Halt Ads on X Following Elon Musk's Antisemitic Post, US Reacts
The UK’s Supreme Court, in a move that surprised no one who respects international law and human rights, has just delivered a landmark ruling against Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s immigration strategy.
Top German journalist received €600,000 from Putin ally, leak reveals
A Dramatic Video from Gaza, Provided by IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari, Offers Undeniable Evidence of Hamas Establishing Terror Operation Bases Near Schools, Above Hospitals, and Inside Civilian Areas.
Moody's Downgrades U.S. Credit Outlook to Negative Amid Fiscal Concerns
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Swedish Embassy in Baghdad Engulfed in Flames Amidst a Firestorm of Protests
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Today, we're unveiling the splendor of one of Saudi Arabia's most exclusive and stunning retreats – the Jeddah Yacht Club
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Muslim Tycoon Asif Aziz Receives Approval for the Transformation of the iconic London Trocadero Landmark into Mosque
×