Overview

• On August 3, Itamar Ben-Gvir publicly led Jewish prayers on the Temple Mount, becoming the first serving Israeli minister to flout the post-1967 ban on non-Muslim worship at the site.
• He used the occasion to demand the conquest of Gaza, the elimination of Hamas members and the voluntary emigration of Palestinians from the Strip.
• Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Ministry of Religious Affairs condemned his actions as violations of international law and red-line provocations.
• Saudi Arabia’s and Jordan’s foreign ministries accused Israel of breaching its obligations as an occupying power and warned of regional destabilization.
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office maintained that the government’s official policy on the Temple Mount remains unchanged.