LONDON: Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right national security minister, stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Thursday while thousands of Jewish nationalists paraded through the streets of the walled city in occupied East Jerusalem.
He raised an Israeli flag inside the compound and posed for a photo flanked by Israeli police officers, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.
Israeli forces imposed restrictions on non-resident Palestinians entering the Old City, barricaded the Herod’s Gate and Damascus Gate areas, and shopkeepers were forced to close their stores ahead of the march.
Thousands of Israeli nationalists paraded through the Old City on Thursday evening and into Friday, under heavy security, in celebration of Jerusalem Day, which commemorates Israel taking military control of the eastern part of the city during the 1967 war.
On Wednesday, Yitzhak Wasserlauf, the minister of the Negev, Galilee, and national resilience, toured Al-Aqsa ahead of the nationalist event, which has become a show of force for Jewish activists and settler groups, and said Ben-Gvir was leading a “revolution” at the holy site. Both ministers belong to the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party.
Ben-Gvir has repeatedly called for Jewish worshippers to be granted greater access to Al-Aqsa. Since taking office in 2023 he has stormed the compound at least 16 times, sparking anger and condemnation.
