The Minister of National Security and leader of the far-right party Jewish Power, Itamar Ben Gvir, has visited this Monday the Temple Mount, where the Al Aqsa Mosque is located, considered the third holiest site in Islam, protected by a large deployment of security forces and just one day before the Israeli general elections on Tuesday.
The Jerusalem governorate, part of the Palestinian Authority, has detailed that Ben Gvir arrived at the site accompanied by the deputy Moshe Feiglin, leader of the far-right party Zehut (Identity), in addition to a group of Israeli settlers.
The politician had previously visited the Al Aqsa Mosque on September 28, on that occasion alongside the Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, coinciding with the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Earlier, on August 31, Ben Gvir was present at Talmudic rituals held in the eastern part of the Temple Mount.
The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has denounced Ben Gvir's presence at the site as constituting "an attack on the sanctity and status" of the Al Aqsa Mosque and a "disregard" for the sensitivity of Muslims. The organization has linked the visit to the Israeli legislative elections scheduled for this Tuesday, which it warned would take place at the expense of "blood, rights, lands, and sacred places" of Palestinians, also alerting to an attempt of "Judaization" of the site.
The Temple Mount, the religious core of East Jerusalem, houses the Al Aqsa Mosque, the third holy site in Islam. The complex sits on one side over the Western Wall, the last remnant of the Temple of Solomon for Judaism, and a sector of religious Jews aspires to rebuild the temple over the current Muslim holy sites.
Controversy over the celebration cake in prison
In parallel, Ben Gvir himself has reported that several Palestinian prisoners have been punished for having saved slices of bread and small portions of jam for days with the intention of making a cake to celebrate a hypothetical defeat of Ben Gvir and his partners in the elections on Tuesday.
"Prison terrorists from Levia have accumulated the little food they had. A spoonful of jam and another spoonful of jam, a slice of bread and another slice of bread, this went on for several days, all to prepare an improvised cake and celebrate on Tuesday if I am not chosen," Ben Gvir explained in a message posted on social media along with an image of the cake.
According to his account, the cake "was discovered" and the inmates "were subjected to a disciplinary trial and transferred to the dungeon." "They had already planned the celebrations, but in this case, the party is over. On Tuesday, they are forbidden to celebrate," he emphasized.