Al-Aqsa Mosque

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir greets followers after praying on the Temple Mount, the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound, on the Jewish day of fasting, Tisha B’Av, in Jerusalem’s Old City, on Sunday, August 3, 2025. Hamas has now called for Muslims to flood the mosque in prayer. File Photo by Debbie Hill/ UPI | License Photo

Aug. 24 (UPI) — Hamas has issued a call to Muslims in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem to make their way to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and flood it with prayer amid calls from Israeli settlers to intensify raids on the holy site.

Haroun Nasser Al-Din, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, said in a statement Saturday that recent calls by Israeli settlers for increased raids on the mosque constituted a “dangerous escalation” between Israelis and Palestinians.

Nasser Al-Din cautioned Israeli settlers against such incursions and asked Muslims not to leave the holy site vulnerable to settler groups.

The Quds News Network, a Palestinian youth news agency, reported Sunday that Israeli settlers pointed loudspeakers toward the mosque to drown out the call to Maghrib prayer.

Israeli forces also cut off electricity to the old city in preparation for settlers to storm the Al-Buraq Mosque in Jerusalem, a different structure within the same compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, the Quds News Network reported.

Earlier this month, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is in charge of the Israeli Police, marched with a group of Israeli settlers up the Temple Mount to the mosque under police guard, where he led them in a prayer.

He shared footage of himself in front of the mosque in a post on social media in which he condemned what he called “horrific videos” released Hamas.

“I say that it is precisely from here, from the Temple Mount, the place where we have proven that it is possible to exercise sovereignty and governance, that we must send a message,” Ben-Gvir said.

“We must ensure that the entire Gaza Strip is conquered, declare sovereignty over the entire Gaza Strip, remove all Hamas members, and encourage voluntary emigration. Only in this way will we bring back the hostages and win the war.”

Settlers again raided the mosque to perform Talmudic rituals last week under the protection of Israeli Police, the Palestinian state-run news agency WAFA reported.

Ben-Gvir himself has ascended the Temple Mount multiple times since he was sworn in as minister in December 2022, enflaming tensions ahead of the Israel-Hamas war.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque is located at the Temple Mount, the highly contested holy site for Muslims, Jews and Christians. The site, also known as Haram al-Sharif, is under the management of the government of Jordan and Jewish religious law prevents visiting the site.

In April 2023, Israel claimed without evidence that Muslims had barricaded themselves inside of the mosque and constituted a “dangerous mob” who were “radicalized and incited by Hamas and other terrorist groups.” Raids at the site led to the arrest of hundreds of people and “irreparable damage” to the site, Palestinian officials said at the time.

1 of 2 | Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir greets followers after praying on the Temple Mount, the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound, on the Jewish day of fasting, Tisha B’Av, in Jerusalem’s Old City, on Sunday. Ben Gvir’s prayer broke a decades old agreement that allows Jews to visit the site, but not to pray. Photo by Debbie Hill/ UPI | License Photo

Aug. 3 (UPI) — Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem and prayed there over the weekend, breaking a longstanding agreement that allows Jews to visit the site, but not pray.

The site, located in occupied East Jerusalem, is known by Jews as the Temple Mount, and Ben–Gvir’s prayer prompted a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office affirming that there has been no change in the decades-old agreement.

Jordan, the site’s custodian, called Ben-Gvir’s actions “an unacceptable provocation.” Hamas called it a “deepening of the ongoing aggressions against our Palestinian people.” A spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the visit “crossed all red lines.”

During his visit, Ben-Gvir called for Israel to “conquer” Gaza and encouraged Palestinians to leave the embattled region.

Temple Mount is the most holy place for Jews as it is the site of two Biblical temples. It is the third most holy site for Muslims, who claim it is where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.

The Waqf, the Islamic endowment that runs this site, said Ben-Gvir was one of 1,250 Jews who visited the compound Sunday morning.

Ben-Gvir has been convicted of supporting terrorism and inciting anti-Arab racism in Israel in the past.