Itamar Ben Gvir Urges Settler Raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem

Radio France describes Itamar Ben Gvir as Israel's National Security Minister and a far-right leader who has been piling provocations to change the status quo on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

“Twenty-two Israeli officials urged the Israeli police to allow settlers to raid the Al-Aqsa Mosque next Friday”

Al-Jazeera Net

The same report says Ben Gvir wants to challenge the religious status quo at the Temple Mount, which houses the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and it notes that non-Muslims are not allowed to pray there while Ben Gvir has suggested building a synagogue on the esplanade.

Al-Jazeera Net

Radio France also says Saudi Arabia denounces Ben Gvir and that ultra-Orthodox Jews distance themselves, while it adds that a Jerusalem ultra-Orthodox newspaper called him an arsonist.

In parallel, Al-Jazeera Net reports that 22 Israeli officials urged Israeli police to allow settlers to raid Al-Aqsa Mosque next Friday, with the letter signed by nine ministers and 13 lawmakers published by the far-right Be'adenu organization.

Al-Jazeera Net says the date of the proposed raid is next Friday, May 15, corresponding to Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967 and aligning with the day Palestinians mark this year's Nakba, 1948.

The report adds that in 2003 police began allowing settlers to raid the Al-Aqsa Mosque daily, except Fridays and Saturdays weekly, amid Palestinian rejection and criticism.

L'Orient-Le Jour

It also says the overwhelming majority of signatories belong to the Likud party led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and it lists ministers including Defense Minister Israel Katz, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, and Health Minister Haim Katz.

Al-Jazeera Net further quotes Jerusalem affairs researcher Abdullah Maarouf, who argues that Netanyahu wants to show he can order the raid on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and not leave Ben-Gvir alone, warning that the Friday 15th raid should be treated as a real, ongoing danger rather than a possible or vague one.

While the Temple Mount dispute escalates, L'Orient-Le Jour frames the wider conflict by reporting that Israel envisions several months of offensive in Lebanon, with the death toll rising to 850 since March 2.

“Backlash against Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel's National Security Minister and far-right leader, who has been piling provocations to change the status quo on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem”

Radio France

In that same live update, it says a second Israeli strike hit Beirut's southern suburb and that the Israeli army said it was attacking Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut, targeting the al-Qaem area in the Haret Hreik neighborhood.

L'Orient-Le Jour also reports that the Israeli army would be preparing a ground offensive in Lebanon in the coming days and that it would be mobilizing no fewer than 450,000 reservists.

Against that backdrop, Radio France links the Temple Mount to the broader cycle of violence by recalling that the Second Intifada in 2000 was sparked by Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount and that it left thousands dead.