Fury in Arab world as Ben-Gvir, thousands of Israeli settlers pray at Al-Aqsa

Thousands of Israeli settlers led by the country's far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir prayed inside the Al-Aqsa compound on Sunday morning, triggering condemnation from Arab governments.

The Jerusalem Waqf said more than 3,000 Israelis entered the complex and performed prayers and rituals, according to Al Araby Al Jadeed, the Arabic-language sister site of The New Arab.

The incursion at Islam's third-holiest site occurred on Tisha B'Av, a Jewish holiday marking the destruction of the Jewish temples in Jerusalem.

In a statement outside the Dome of the Rock, Ben-Gvir reiterated his calls for the Israeli government to annex the Gaza Strip and expel its 2.2 million inhabitants from the territory.

Amit Halevi, a lawmaker in Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, was also among the crowd.

More than 30 were arrested and thrown out of the compound, according to Israeli media.

The move was condemned by several Arab governments, including Jordan, the custodian of Jerusalem's holy sites.

The kingdom's foreign ministry described the incursion as a "flagrant violation of international law" and demanded that the Israeli government prevent extremists from escalating tensions in the occupied city.

A ministry spokesperson affirmed "the kingdom's absolute rejection and strong condemnation of the continued unacceptable incursions by the extremist minister Ben-Gvir".

A spokesperson for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said Ben-Gvir's actions had "crossed all red lines".

"The international community, and in particular the American administration, must intervene immediately to put an end to the crimes of the settlers and the provocations of the extreme right-wing government at the Al-Aqsa Mosque," they said.

Meanwhile, the Saudi foreign ministry expressed the "strongest condemnation of the repeated provocative practices by officials in the Israeli occupation government against the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque".

The decades-old arrangement allowing Muslims exclusive rights to pray at the site has been unravelling under Netanyahu's far-right government.

More than 53,000 settlers stormed the compound in 2024, the highest number since police began giving Jews access more than two decades ago.

Around 13,000 Jews entered in the first three months of 2025 alone.

Israel has illegally occupied East Jerusalem since 1967 and annexed the city in 1980.