ANKARA/ISTANBUL

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Monday stormed the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem to mark the Israeli occupation of the city, triggering a wave of condemnations.

"There are actually a large number of Jews flocking here, and it's a joy to see this," Ben-Gvir said in a video of him inside the mosque complex.

"Today, Jews can pray and prostrate here. We thank God for that," he said.

The extremist minister was joined in his tour by several Israeli ministers, including Minister of the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Yitzhak Wasserlauf, and Knesset member Yitzhak Kroizer.

“(We are) praying for the success of the new Shin Bet chief (David Zini), may he pursue our enemies, crush our enemies, as he has done throughout his years – to be professional and distinguish between enemy and friend. We embrace friends, we crush enemies,” he said.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry strongly condemned Ben-Gvir’s raid, saying the intrusion was part of “the genocide, displacement, Judaization, and annexation to which the Palestinian people are subjected.

It called for "urgent international action” to halt the Israeli violations immediately and to take the necessary measures “to protect the Palestinian people from the aggression of the occupation army and settlers."

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas decried Ben-Gvir's intrusion as a "desperate attempt by the (Israeli) occupation to enforce the complete Judaization of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

In a statement, Hamas stressed that the Palestinian people will continue to defend the mosque and "will not allow the Zionist schemes for its division or Judaization to pass."

The preacher of East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, lamented the lack of action to the ongoing Israeli violations.

"The far-right has taken control of the Israeli government and has begun attacking Al-Aqsa without restraint," he said in a statement.

"Al-Aqsa Mosque is suffering from a stifling siege, with worshippers prevented from reaching the site,” Sabri said.

“This is a policy aimed at emptying the mosque and restricting the movement of Jerusalemites. Meanwhile, Israeli settlers are facilitated and protected militarily, in a clear demonstration of official bias and support for attacks on the site.”

Jordan’s Foreign Ministry denounced the Israeli minister’s intrusion as a "flagrant violation of the historical and legal status quo (of Al-Aqsa Mosque), and of Israel's obligations as the occupying power."

A ministry statement stressed that such intrusions will not "alter the fact that East Jerusalem is an occupied city over which Israel holds no sovereignty."

Monday’s intrusion was the seventh by the far-right minister into the Al-Aqsa complex since he joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in 2022.

At least 2,092 illegal settlers have forced their way into the mosque complex since early morning under police protection to mark the occupation of East Jerusalem, with many performing provocative rituals in the mosque's courtyards, the Islamic Endowment Department in Jerusalem said in a statement.

More than 665 settlers entered the mosque compound in the afternoon following the midday prayer, the statement added.

Later in the day, the settlers assaulted Palestinians at Damascus Gate in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem, according to the Israeli Army Radio.

Since the outbreak of the Gaza war on Oct. 7, 2023, the Israeli authorities have imposed strict measures limiting Palestinians’ access from the occupied West Bank into East Jerusalem.

Palestinians consider these restrictions as part of Israel’s broader efforts to Judaize East Jerusalem, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque is located, and erase its Arab and Islamic identity.

Since 2003, Israel has allowed illegal settlers into the flashpoint compound on an almost daily basis with the exception of Fridays and Saturdays.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.