Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir led hundreds of Israeli Jews into Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Thursday, breaching the site’s decades-old status quo as he marked a Jewish day of mourning.<\/p>\n
The visit coincided with Tisha B’Av, the Jewish fasting day commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples, which is being observed from Wednesday night through Thursday this year.<\/p>\n
AFP footage showed Ben Gvir and hundreds of fellow worshippers at the Al-Aqsa compound, including Jewish settlers who lined up from the early morning hours to enter the site, where many performed prayers.<\/p>\n
“Look at what’s happening here — Jews are praying and feel that they are the rightful owners here,” Ben Gvir said in a video filmed at the compound and posted on his Telegram channel.<\/p>\n
“Everywhere, people understand that the State of Israel is the sovereign authority. There is still more to do, and with God’s help, we will continue to move forward.”<\/p>\n
Located in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, the compound is revered as Islam’s third holiest site and, simultaneously, as Judaism’s most sacred location, where the two ancient temples once stood.<\/p>\n
Access is governed by a decades-old “status quo” arrangement between Israel and Jordan, whose religious foundation administers the site.<\/p>\n
Under that arrangement, Jews may visit but are not permitted to pray there, while Muslim worship is meant to continue uninterrupted.<\/p>\n
In recent years, however, Ben Gvir and other Jewish visitors have repeatedly tested and breached those limits, including through open prayer at the compound, drawing condemnation from Jordan, the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority and Muslim religious bodies.<\/p>\n
Jordan denounced Ben Gvir’s latest visit to the compound on Thursday.<\/p>\n
“Jordan firmly rejects and strongly condemns the continued incursions by Israeli officials, Knesset members, and extremist settlers into Al-Aqsa mosque, as well as the role of Israeli police in facilitating these actions,” foreign ministry spokesperson Fouad Al-Majali said in a statement.<\/p>\n
He described the actions as “unacceptable attempts to impose new realities at Al-Aqsa Mosque\/Al-Haram Al-Sharif through efforts to alter its existing arrangements”.<\/p>\n
The Israeli government has publicly maintained that its policy on the status quo remains unchanged, even as incidents like Thursday’s continue to inflame the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<\/p>\n
Since taking office, Ben Gvir has stormed the site more than a dozen times, and has previously used Tisha B’av gatherings to call for tougher action against Palestinians in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n
Beyond marking the temples’ destruction, the day of fasting is traditionally tied to a string of calamities said to have befallen the Jewish people on or near the same date throughout history.<\/p>\n
vid-jd\/smw<\/p>\n
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