Ben-Gvir joins hundreds of Israelis in storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound | Israeli-Palestinian conflict News
Israel’s National Security Minister declares ‘we own the place in Al-Aqsa’ during heavily guarded incursion.
Published on September 28, 2026
Hundreds of Israelis led by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound under police protection.
The Jerusalem governorate said Monday that Israeli forces closed intersections and streets surrounding the Old City that lead to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which Jews call the Temple Mount, in occupied East Jerusalem on the third day of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
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Israelis danced in circles and sang in the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa mosque during the raid, saying 900 people entered the compound in the morning.
“We own the premises in Al-Aqsa and the prisons, and we have made the lives of terrorist prisoners hell,” Ben-Gvir said.
“The people of Israel are on the path to absolute victory and today we pray in Al-Aqsa, which is the most important place for the Jewish people. »
Monday’s intrusion came as Israeli authorities forced dozens of Palestinian merchants to close their businesses and residents to stay home in areas near the mosque to allow Jews to pray during Sukkot.
“Dozens of Palestinian owners of shops, cafes and restaurants in the Cotton Merchants Market in Jerusalem’s Old City were forced to close them during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot to make way for Jewish prayers in the market,” the Association for Civil Rights in Israel said in a statement.
“Play with fire”
Palestinian presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh called the incursion “a game with fire and a dangerous provocation for the feelings of Muslims around the world.”
He also warned that Israel was seeking to start a “religious war” in the region.
Since 2003, Israeli police have allowed groups of Israelis to make daily incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, except on Fridays and Saturdays.
Israel often imposes restrictions on Palestinian worshipers. It prevented Eid al-Fitr prayers at Al-Aqsa this year, allowing just 10,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, home to 3.3 million people, access to one of Islam’s holiest sites for the first Friday prayers of Ramadan.
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