From Temple Mount, Ben-Gvir says 'entire Gaza Strip must be occupied'
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ascended the Temple Mount on Sunday to pray, where he called for Israeli sovereignty over Gaza, he announced in a social media post.
'The horror videos released by Hamas are meant to pressure Israel,' Ben Gvir said, referring to new footage released by Hamas on Saturday showing hostage Evyatar David in a tunnel being forced to dig his grave.
'I say this precisely from here - from the Temple Mount, where we've proven sovereignty is possible - that a clear message must be sent: The entire Gaza Strip must be occupied, sovereignty declared, Hamas uprooted, and voluntary emigration promoted. Only then will we return the hostages and win the war.'
Ben-Gvir and hundreds of other Jews were visiting the Temple Mount to mark Tisha B'Av, the Jewish day of mourning for the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem.
The status quo on the Temple Mount, established after 1967, allows Israel to oversee security while the Jordanian-backed Islamic Waqf administers the site. Non-Muslims, including Jews, may visit during limited hours but are strictly prohibited from praying there. The status quo's aim was to maintain religious balance and prevent conflict, though it has often been tested by political and security tensions.
Ben-Gvir's number two, Negev and Galilee Minister Yizhak Wasserlauf, also visited the site on Sunday and posted a video of himself praying along with dozens of other people.
Ben-Gvir joined by Amit Halevi, Sharren Haskel
MKs Amit Halevi (Likud) and Sharren Haskel (New Hope-United Right) also ascended the Temple Mount to mark Tisha B'Av.
'Minhelet Har Habayit' (The Temple Mount Directorate), an NGO that provides services to visitors to the site, said on Sunday that some 3,527 people had visited the site throughout the day. According to the NGO, this set a record for the number of visitors in one day.
After Ben-Gvir's visit, the Prime Minister's Office issued a short statement saying that "Israel's policy of maintaining the status quo on the Temple Mount has not changed and will not change." The PMO had to put out nearly identical statements numerous times since the current government took office in late 2022, due to repeated statements by Ben-Gvir that the status quo had changed.
"Israel's policy of maintaining the status quo on the Temple Mount has not changed and will not change."
For the first time, more than three thousand Jews ascended to pray on the Temple Mount in one day, with 3,527 Jews ascending for Tisha B'Av prayers on the Temple Mount, according to the Temple Mount administration.
MKs Amit Halevi (Likud) and Sharren Haskel (New Hope-United Right) also ascended the Temple Mount to mark Tisha B'Av.
In March, the Shin Bet wrote in the conclusions of its internal investigations into the failure of the October 7 massacre, that repeated declarations about a change in the status quo on the Temple Mount contributed to Hamas's decision to launch the attack, which it called 'Al Aqsa Flood'.
Jordan's Foreign Ministry strongly condemned what it called the "storming of the al-Aqsa Mosque," saying that it was "a flagrant violation of international law" and "an unacceptable provocation."
The ministry then added that Israel has no sovereignty over the al-Aqsa Mosque.
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Boston Globe
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- Boston Globe
Facing up to the stark realities of Gaza
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Associated Press
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Washington Post
3 hours ago
- Washington Post
In their words: Israeli leaders support the mass relocation of Palestinians from Gaza
President Donald Trump has said little about his idea of relocating many of the Gaza Strip's 2 million Palestinians to other countries since he stunned the world by announcing it in February. But Israel's leaders have run with it, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at one point listed it as a condition for ending the 22-month war sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
