Al-Aqsa Mosque Under Escalation: Ben Gvir Ignites Jerusalem and the West Bank Becomes an Open Military Zone
In a scene reflecting field escalation and a deliberate political provocation, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir renewed his incursion into the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards on Tuesday morning, accompanied by groups of settlers who performed Jewish rituals in broad daylight, under tight protection from occupation forces.
This second intrusion of its kind within a week coincided with what is known as the “Simchat Torah,” one of the Jewish religious occasions that has increasingly become a pretext for the desecration of the holy sanctuary in recent years. This behavior, driven by the ideology of the extremist national religious right, is no longer a mere symbolic step; it has become part of an official strategy to impose a new reality in Al-Aqsa and to enforce what is known as the “temporal and spatial division.”
Last week, Ben Gvir also participated in a similar incursion during what is known as the Feast of Tabernacles, alongside ministers and Knesset members. Palestinian authorities documented the entry of more than 7,000 settlers into the Al-Aqsa courtyards over just five days, describing it as a “coordinated escalation” involving various state institutions, both politically and security-wise.
In parallel with this escalation in Jerusalem, multiple areas in the West Bank witnessed a series of night incursions, accompanied by extensive use of live ammunition and tear gas, with some Palestinian homes turning into military barracks and field surveillance centers.
In Hebron, in the southern West Bank, occupation forces raided the towns of Idna and Al-Kum, forcibly evacuating families from their homes and turning them into closed military sites, a scene reminiscent of the worst practices of occupation during the first and second intifadas.
In Ramallah, the situation was equally tense, as forces swept through villages and towns west of the city, conducting raids and searches amid random field investigations into the residents, while the town of Beitin came under attack from settlers who set fire to a Palestinian vehicle and assaulted citizens’ property without intervention from the Israeli army.
Meanwhile, in Nablus, incursions focused on refugee camps east of the city, where occupation vehicles were seen roaming the streets, appearing to showcase force in the heart of overcrowded residential areas, with no direct injuries reported, yet creating an atmosphere of terror and intimidation.
In Tubas and the northern Jordan Valley, scenes of arbitrary searches and military presence were repeated, while human rights groups documented the entry of settler groups into Khirbat Samra, accompanied by occupation forces.
The political reading of these maneuvers indicates a deliberate attempt to impose a field reality that serves internal electoral goals in Israel, while simultaneously testing Palestinian and Arab reactions, especially given the region’s preoccupation with multiple crises, from Gaza to Lebanon to economic and social challenges.
Amid this organized escalation, warnings are growing that what is happening is not merely isolated security movements, but part of a larger project to fragment Palestinian control and encircle any potential centers of resistance, whether in camps or major cities.
Al-Aqsa Mosque remains a symbol of the multifaceted conflict: religious, political, and national. As incursions by Israeli right-wing ministers continue, warnings mount that repeated provocations could ignite a new confrontation that would be difficult to contain.
Jerusalem does not sleep on incursions, and the West Bank does not calm under militarization. Despite the pain, Palestine continues to document the details of its days to the rhythm of resistance and steadfastness.
