Ben Gvir storms Al-Aqsa Mosque under protection of occupation forces

The far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, on Tuesday, renewed his storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque, under police protection.

The Islamic Endowments Department in occupied Jerusalem said in a brief statement that Ben Gvir stormed the mosque this afternoon under police protection.

Ben Gvir's incursions usually take place without prior announcement.

Incursions by Israeli ministers into Al-Aqsa Mosque take place after prior approval from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Since assuming his duties as a minister in the government at the beginning of 2023, Ben Gvir has stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque about 14 times.

This incursion is the first in 2026.

Ben Gvir continues the incursions despite Arab, Islamic, and international criticism.

For its part, the "Hamas" movement considered Ben Gvir's storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque a provocative step within a systematic policy to desecrate Islamic holy sites and impose new Judaization facts.

"Hamas" said in a statement that "the storming of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque by the extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is a provocative step that is repeated within a systematic policy to desecrate Islamic holy sites and impose new facts, in light of the faint Arab and Islamic responses."

It added that "this incursion represents a new blatant assault on the sanctity of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and a violation that reveals the occupation government's insistence on its religious war on the holy city."

"Hamas" warned of "the repercussions of this escalating aggression," stressing that "Al-Aqsa Mosque is a red line, and our Palestinian people will continue to defend it by all means."

The Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem condemns these incursions and continues to demand their cessation, but without a response from the Israeli authorities.

Israeli settlers, protected by the army, stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque 280 times during 2025, according to a report issued by the Palestinian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs.

An official in the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem, who preferred not to be named, estimated the number of settlers who stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque last year at 65,364 extremist settlers.

The report documented a wide escalation in Israeli attacks on Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

It indicated that the Al-Aqsa incursions were accompanied by the public performance of Talmudic rituals and ceremonies within its courtyards, "including epic prostration, blowing the shofar, wearing prayer clothes, in addition to collective prayers in specific places and times, in a clear consecration of temporal and spatial division within the mosque."

The ministry clarified in its report that "these incursions took place under the supervision and protection of the occupation police, who constantly prevent Al-Aqsa Mosque guards belonging to the Endowments Department from performing their duties within the courtyards."