In Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, not everyone agrees with the peace plan for Gaza proposed by Donald Trump and which is now being renegotiated in Egypt. This is the case of the Israeli Minister of National Security, the ultranationalist Italy Ben’s Italy, opposed to closing an agreement with Hamas and in favor of annexing the Palestinian enclave. He has even threatened to leave the Executive if he is not “remove” to the Islamist group.
Beyond words, the controversial minister is also known for his provocations. Without going any further, this Wednesday, to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, Ben Gvir has appeared on the Esplanade of the Mosquesin Jerusalem, the third holiest place for Islam. There he prayed for “victory in the war, the destruction of Hamas and the return of the hostages,” according to Israeli media.
The visit, which takes place one day after the second anniversary of the terrorist attack carried out by Hamas, threatens to interfere in the indirect talks to achieve peace that Israel and the Islamist organization have been having for three days.
💥”We are the owners of the Temple Mount.” Itamar Ben Gvir on the Temple Mount, Esplanade of the Mosques, doing his best to shatter the Status Quo and shatter the talks in Sharm el-Sheikh. pic.twitter.com/rrmNsZyA1Q
– Noga Tarnopolsky Nogaopolsky نوغا ترنوبولسكي (@ntarnopolsky) October 8, 2025
In practice, Israel controls access to the Mosque Esplanade or Temple Mount (where the Al Aqsa Mosque is located), but the site governs a situation when according to which only Muslims can pray therewhile Jews can visit it during limited hours but not perform prayers. ORa norm that Ben Gvir and other sectors of the Israeli right have repeatedly challenged. Without going any further, this summer.
The esplanade is a frequent cause of disputes and controversies, since a part of the Israeli Jewish extreme right, represented by the ministersos Ben Gvir y Bezalel Smotrichclaims control of the complex because it is the place where the First and Second Temples were built more than 2,000 years ago, collects Efe. Jewish prayer is performed at the nearby Western Wall, one of the walls of the esplanade, as advised by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.
“Continue the massacre”
For its part, Hamas has accused Ben Gvir of “continuing the aggression and repeating the crime” after breaking into the Esplanade of the Mosques in Jerusalem and participating in Jewish prayers coinciding with the 35th anniversary. of the murder of 21 Palestinians at the hands of the Border Police in the sacred place.
“This assault, coinciding with the anniversary of the massacre, is an aggressive message that seeks to strengthen the temporal and spatial division and impose occupation control on the Al Aqsa Mosque,” the Islamist group has condemned in a statement shared on its official channels.