Israel’s ultranationalist safety minister entered the Al-Aqsa dome element in Jerusalem on Thursday for what he claimed was a “prayer” for victims in Gaza, newly upholding rules over one of the Middle East’s most delicate places.
Israel’s official status accepts decades-old laws restricting non-Muslim worship at the substance, Islam’s next holiest page and known as Temple Mount to Jews, who revere it as the site of two old temples.
Under a gentle decades-old” status quo” agreement with Muslim authorities, the Al-Aqsa mixture is administered by a Jordanian spiritual foundation and, under rules dating back decades, Jews may visit but may not pray it.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the head of radical security, stated in a blog on X that:” I ascended now, in prayer for the welfare of our soldiers, to quickly gain all the hostages and complete victory with God’s help.
The post included a picture of Ben-Gvir walking in the compound, situated on an elevated plaza in Jerusalem’s walled Old City, but no images or video of him praying.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office immediately made a statement reaffirming the country’s official position.
Palestinian militant group Hamas took about 250 hostages in its Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel in which 1, 200 people were killed, according to Israeli tallies. In the ensuing war in Gaza, Israeli forces have killed over 45, 300 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave.
Israeli ultranationalists ‘ predictions that Israel would change the Al-Aqsa compound’s religious regulations have previously sparked violence against Palestinians.
In August, Ben-Gvir repeated a call for Jews to be allowed to pray at the Al-Aqsa mosque, drawing sharp criticism, and he has visited the mosque compound in the past.
Ben-Gvir, head of one of two religious-nationalist parties in Netanyahu’s coalition, has a long record of making inflammatory statements appreciated by his own supporters, but conflicting with the government’s official line.
In the past, Israeli police have obstructed ministers from entering the compound on the grounds that it threatens national security. Ben-Gvir’s ministerial file gives him oversight over Israel’s national police force.
