The Palestinian Forum in Britain (PFB) strongly condemns the dangerous and provocative incursion by Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound yesterday. In blatant violation of international law and all historical understandings, Ben-Gvir openly led Jewish prayers and rituals inside the compound, surrounded by settlers and extremist officials. This act is not merely a violation of the religious sanctity of the site, it is a calculated and aggressive assertion of Israeli sovereignty over one of Islam’s holiest places.
Zaher Birawi, Chairman of the Palestinian Forum in Britain, stated that this incursion constitutes a crime and a blatant provocation of Muslim sentiments, as well as a dangerous escalation that threatens to ignite the region, for which the Israeli occupation bears full responsibility. He added that the governments of the Arab and Islamic worlds bear a significant part of the responsibility for this repeated Zionist overreach, arguing that their silence and failure to take firm and practical action to stop these serious violations against holy sites only emboldens the occupation to commit further aggression. Birawi called on the peoples of the Arab and Islamic world to assume their responsibility and take the initiative in defending Jerusalem and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Ben-Gvir’s intrusion was not a private visit nor a symbolic gesture. It was a deliberate escalation, part of an ongoing project led by extremist Israeli factions within the government to impose a new reality in Al-Aqsa, aimed at dividing the mosque spatially and temporally between Muslims and Jewish settlers. Such actions echo the well-documented blueprint used by the Israeli occupation to divide the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron following the massacre of Muslim worshippers in 1994. Today’s violation is one step further in this systematic campaign to erase Palestinian presence and religious heritage in Jerusalem, and to sever the city from its Arab, Muslim and Christian identity.
This provocation came under the protection and applause of the Israeli state apparatus. Security forces expelled Muslim guards from their posts, prevented Palestinian worshippers from entering, and allowed Ben-Gvir and others to perform Talmudic rituals in direct defiance of the internationally recognised status quo. It must be underscored that the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is the sole legal custodian of Al-Aqsa Mosque, a status repeatedly acknowledged by the international community. Yet Israel continues to defy international law, emboldened by silence and inaction.
The scenes on Sunday, settlers singing, dancing, and celebrating weddings inside the compound, exposed the colonial logic that drives the Israeli occupation: humiliating Palestinians, desecrating their sacred spaces, and asserting domination in the most provocative manner possible. The message was loud and clear: in their eyes, there is no place for Palestinian worship, no role for Jordanian custodianship, and no respect for international law.
PFB also notes with deep concern the disturbing silence of Western governments that preach about human rights while turning a blind eye to the most sacred violations of Palestinian religious and national rights. This latest incident comes as Gaza continues to suffer a genocidal war, where over 60,000 people have been killed, many burned alive in hospitals and refugee camps, and children are starving due to deliberate Israeli obstruction of aid. At the very same time, Ben-Gvir was parading through Al-Aqsa, Israeli forces opened fire on crowds of hungry people at an aid distribution point in Gaza, killing dozens more. These crimes are connected. The same racist ideology that justifies mass murder in Gaza is what drives the settler-colonial assault on Al-Aqsa.
PFB calls on the international community to urgently take action beyond mere condemnation. The repeated desecrations of Al-Aqsa demand a serious international response, not only to protect the site, but to challenge the broader Israeli project of religious apartheid and ethnic cleansing. We also call on the British government and all institutions to condemn today’s provocation, hold Israel accountable, and end the culture of impunity that fuels its aggression.
We remind the world that Al-Aqsa is not just a mosque, it is a symbol of Palestinian steadfastness, identity, and dignity. It belongs to the people of Jerusalem, to the Palestinian people, and to the entire Muslim Ummah. The Palestinian people will never accept its desecration or division, and we will continue to defend it, as we have always done, with unwavering resolve.
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Palestinian Forum in Britain
Monday, 04 August 2025
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