Israeli minister storms Al-Aqsa compound and threatens prisoner

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has led a major incursion into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem.

Ben-Gvir, leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, showed up at the compound on Sunday to mark the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Jews call the area around the mosque Temple Mount, as it used to house two Jewish temples in ancient times before becoming the third holiest site for Muslims.

The minister was accompanied by a heavily armed security detail, as well as backed up by crowds of Israeli civilians. A total of 1,143 Israelis breached the compound in several successive groups, according to the Jerusalem Governorate of the Palestinian Authority.

Ben-Gvir was seen brandishing a massive Torah scroll and performing Talmudic rituals while onlookers cheered, footage from the scene shows.

Shortly after entering the compound, Ben-Gvir stirred up further controversy, releasing on X footage of him confronting Hassan Salameh, a high-profile Palestinian prisoner, in jail. Salameh, believed to be a senior Hamas figure, has been held by Israel for three decades over the 1996 terrorist attacks, including a bus bombing.

Footage released by Ben-Gvir shows him alongside multiple guards armed with assault rifles meeting shackled Salameh inside a small room. “I want to kill you. I want to execute you,” Ben-Gvir told Salameh. The encounter left the prisoner “trembled and terrified,” the minister claimed.

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The stunt has been strongly condemned by various rights groups as abusive and inhumane. The Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office, for instance, condemned Ben-Gvir’s actions as a “criminal act” and cheap political theatrics.

Ben-Gvir has been the key proponent of the recently adopted Death Penalty for Terrorists Law, which gives Israel broad powers to execute alleged “terrorists.” The legislation mandates the death penalty for those convicted of deadly terrorist attacks aimed at “ending Israel’s existence” – a provision critics say effectively exempts Jewish Israelis, making the law applicable almost exclusively to Palestinians. The death penalty must be carried out within 90 days of sentencing, with no right of appeal.

The far-right minister is known for inflammatory rhetoric toward Palestinians and heavy-handed treatment of prisoners, including international activists, and has been sanctioned by multiple countries for repeatedly inciting violence against them.