Israel’s extremist far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex on Wednesday, accompanied by armed Israeli forces.
The incursion was widely condemned as a provocation, particularly as it came on the third day of the Islamic Eid al-Fitr celebration.
Hamas slammed the move, calling it a “dangerous escalation”.
The group also said efforts by “the terrorist government led by the war criminal Netanyahu [aims] to Judaise the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and impose a fait accompli on the holy city”.
Hamas further called on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank to rise up to the “arrogant enemy” and said it was “in defence of our land and holy sites”.
It also urged Arab and Muslim states to prevent the “crimes against our Palestinian people and our Islamic and Christian holy sites”.
The storming of the holy site comes days before the Jewish Passover holiday, an official from the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem told reporters.
Jordan’s foreign ministry also weighed in on the incident, calling the incursion “a deliberate provocation” and a violation of the site’s “established historical and legal status quo”.
“[Israel] has no sovereignty over occupied Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites,” a statement from the foreign ministry added.
According to local media, since taking office, Ben-Gvir has stormed the holy site at least seven times, four of which took place amid Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.
Since the start of the war, rights groups have documented a sharp rise in assaults, incursions and armed raids on the occupied West Bank.
Such incursions regularly inflame tensions as it is one of the most revered sites in Islam, a symbol of Palestinian identity and violates the status quo of the site, which states that Jews and other non-Muslims are only allowed to visit the complex during set hours but are forbidden from praying there or displaying any religious symbols.
However, in recent years, Ben-Gvir, often along with Israeli settlers, has stormed the site in defiance of the rules.
