Far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has risked inflaming non secular tensions by reportedly praying on the Al Aqsa mosque web site in Jerusalem.
The compound sits atop the Temple Mount, which is taken into account holy in Islam, Judaism and Christianity, has been a flashpoint through the Israel-Hamas battle.
Picture:
Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Al Aqsa web site in August 2024. File pic: Reuters
Who’s Itamar Ben-Gvir?
Considered as a hardline extremist by some, Itamar Ben-Gvir is a strong determine in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s authorities.
Burly, bespectacled and rough-spoken, the 49-year-old has appeared to please in offending anybody not aligned to the views of the pro-settler, nationalist-religious constituency behind his Jewish Energy social gathering.
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In the course of the 2022 election marketing campaign, he was photographed brandishing a gun at Palestinian demonstrators in East Jerusalem.
In authorities, Mr Ben-Gvir and fellow hardliner, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, have repeatedly clashed with Mr Netanyahu and criticised peace efforts.
The pair threatened to stop final yr – thereby collapsing the governing coalition – if the prime minister agreed to a ceasefire deal earlier than Hamas was destroyed.
Mr Ben-Gvir has additionally known as for Israel to overcome all of Gaza.
Picture:
Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. Pic: Reuters
What’s the Al Aqsa compound – and why is it so necessary?
Al Aqsa is a compound of Islamic non secular buildings on prime of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Amongst them is the Dome of the Rock shrine, the oldest surviving work of Islamic structure, with a particular golden dome construction that appears out over the town.
The compound is the third holiest web site in Islam and probably the most sacred web site in Judaism.
Below a fragile decades-old “status quo” association with Muslim authorities, the positioning is run by a Jordanian non secular basis, and Jews can go to however could not pray there.
Solutions that Israel may alter the foundations on the compound have sparked outrage within the Muslim world earlier than and ignited violence prior to now. There have been no speedy stories of violence on Sunday.
Picture:
The Dome of the Rock seen atop the Temple Mount. Pic: Reuters
What occurred when Itamar Ben-Gvir visited Al Aqsa?
Mr Ben-Gvir visited the positioning on Sunday and reportedly prayed there – difficult the foundations.
Movies launched by a small Jewish organisation known as the Temple Mount Administration confirmed him main a gaggle strolling within the compound. Different movies circulating on-line appeared to indicate him praying.
The Waqf, the inspiration that administers the complicated, stated Mr Ben-Gvir was amongst 1,250 who ascended the positioning and who it stated prayed, danced and shouted.
In an announcement on social media alongside a video showing to indicate him outdoors the Dome of the Rock, he reiterated his name for Israel to occupy all of Gaza and declare sovereignty.
“Only in this way will we return the kidnapped and win the war,” he wrote.
Picture:
Itamar Ben-Gvir approaches the doorway to Jerusalem’s most delicate holy web site in August 2024. File pic: AP
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A spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Mr Ben-Gvir’s go to, which he stated “crossed all red lines”.
“The international community, specifically the US administration, is required to intervene immediately to put an end to the crimes of the settlers and the provocations of the extreme right-wing government in Al Aqsa mosque, stop the war on the Gaza Strip and bring in humanitarian aid,” Nabil Abu Rudeineh stated in an announcement.
Mr Netanyahu stated after Mr Ben-Gvir’s go to that Israel’s coverage of sustaining the established order on the compound “has not changed and will not change”.
