JERUSALEM, August 31, 2026 (WAFA) – Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir this evening stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of Israeli occupation forces and performed Talmudic prayers and rituals in the eastern section of the mosque’s courtyards.

The Jerusalem Governorate said that Ben-Gvir led the colonists’ incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque, as dozens of colonists entered the mosque’s courtyards in successive groups through the Moroccan Gate, conducted provocative tours, and performed Talmudic rituals amid heightened military measures around the Old City and the mosque’s gates.

The Jerusalem Governorate condemned Ben-Gvir’s incursion into Al-Aqsa Mosque and his performance of Talmudic rituals in its courtyards, describing them as a dangerous escalation and a flagrant violation of the mosque’s existing historical and legal status, as well as an attempt to impose new realities at the mosque and alter its Islamic identity.

It warned of the dangers posed by continued incursions by Israeli officials and colonists into Al-Aqsa Mosque and their performance of Talmudic rituals in its courtyards under the protection of occupation forces, stressing that these practices are part of ongoing plans to impose control over the mosque and divide it temporally and spatially.

The governorate called on the international community to assume its responsibilities regarding the situation in Jerusalem and at Al-Aqsa Mosque and take urgent measures to halt escalating Israeli violations and preserve the mosque’s existing historical and legal status as an exclusively Muslim place of worship.

T.R.