Israeli Minister of Internal Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, on the Temple Mount in East Jerusalem, May 26, 2025. (Credit: Ammar Awad/Reuters.)
Far-right Israeli minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visited the occupied and annexed by Israel, al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem, on Monday morning at the start of Israel’s annual celebrations of Jerusalem Day.
The compound is the third holiest site in Islam and the most sacred site in Judaism, and it is a powder keg where the slightest incident can escalate and ignite the region.
"Yom Yerushalayim" ['Jerusalem Day' in Hebrew] commemorates for Israelis what they consider the "reunification" of the city, since the occupation of its eastern part in 1967. Each year, on this day, thousands of Israeli nationalists, mostly religious, march through the streets of Jerusalem, including the Old City, waving Israeli flags, dancing, and singing. For many Palestinians, this heavily monitored parade is perceived as a deliberate provocation.
"I ascended to the Temple Mount for Jerusalem Day and prayed for victory in the war [in Gaza], for the return of all our hostages, and for the success of the new head of Shin Bet, Major General David Zini. Happy Jerusalem Day!" wrote Israeli National Security Minister Ben-Gvir in a message on Telegram, accompanied by photographs showing him at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, referred to as the Temple Mount by Jews.
Jordan, which administers the compound but whose entry points have been controlled by Israel since the capture of East Jerusalem in 1967, condemned "the practices of this extremist minister" which "do not change the fact that East Jerusalem is an occupied city."
The march planned for Monday is set to take place for the second consecutive year against the backdrop of war in the Gaza Strip, triggered by the attack launched by Hamas in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. In 2021, Hamas launched a barrage of rockets toward Jerusalem as the march began heading toward the Old City, which was followed by a 12-day war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement, as well as outbreaks of violence in Israel between Jews and Arabs.
The Israeli army reported on Monday that three "projectiles" were fired from the Gaza Strip, claiming to have intercepted one of them and that the other two "fell" within the Palestinian territory.
Young people from across the country
The event marks "the day we conquered Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, the Western Wall" (Wailing Wall), explains Yosef Azoulai, 21, a yeshiva student, a center for studying rabbinic texts. "We defeated our enemies on that day. We all came, all the yeshiva students, united, to celebrate," he added.
As of Monday morning, groups of young people from all over the country were gathering near the Jaffa Gate, wearing white T-shirts as is often the case for this march, observed an AFP journalist. Their march is set to lead them to the Western Wall in East Jerusalem, the last vestige of the Second Temple, destroyed in 70 by the Romans, and the most sacred place where Jews are allowed to pray.
As in previous years, a "flower march" was also organized by Israeli activists eager to counter the nationalist march. "We will give flowers of peace to the residents of Jerusalem, especially to Muslims, to Christians," stated organizer Gadi Gvaryahu, who heads Tag Meir, an organization bringing together NGOs working for peaceful coexistence.
Orly Likhovski, a leader of the Israel Religious Action Center, told AFP that participants of the flower march "do not want the day to be marked by violence and racism," expressing hope to embody another face of Israel.
Heavy police presence
In the Old City of Jerusalem, surprised Palestinians accepted the offered flowers. But an elderly man declined: "Do you see what's happening in Gaza? I'm sorry, but I can't accept." Further away, teenagers participating in the main march tore up the flowers.
Police said Sunday they were deploying "thousands" of officers throughout the city to prevent incidents that usually occur during this march.
The Israeli city hall of Jerusalem announced a series of events beginning, as for all Jewish calendar holidays, the evening before. A giant Israeli flag was thus unfurled on Sunday evening at the Western Wall compound as thousands of visitors crowded the streets of the Old City.