UPDATE - Israel’s Ben-Gvir storms Al-Aqsa Mosque to celebrate occupation of East Jerusalem

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS, CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK

By Ahmed Asmar

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

"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.

More than 1,400 illegal settlers have already forced their way into the mosque complex since early morning under police protection to mark the city’s occupation, with many performing provocative rituals in the mosque's courtyards.

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.

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.