Israeli minister Ben-Gvir says he prayed at Al-Aqsa mosque compound
Under a delicate decades-old "status quo" arrangement with Muslim authorities, the Al-Aqsa compound is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation and Jews can visit but may not pray there.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement after Ben-Gvir's visit that Israel's policy of maintaining the status quo at the compound "has not changed and will not change".
Videos released by a small Jewish organisation called the Temple Mount Administration showed Ben-Gvir leading a group walking in the compound. Other videos circulating online appeared to show him praying. Reuters could not immediately verify the content of the other videos.
The visit to the compound known to Jews as Temple Mount, took place on Tisha B'av, the fast day mourning the destruction of two ancient Jewish temples, which stood at the site centuries ago.
The Waqf, the foundation that administers the complex on a hillside in Jerusalem's walled Old City, said Ben-Gvir was among another 1,250 who ascended the site and who it said prayed, shouted and danced.
Israel's official position accepts the rules restricting non-Muslim prayer at the compound, which is Islam's third holiest site and the most sacred site in Judaism.
Ben-Gvir has visited the site in the past calling for Jewish prayer to be allowed there.
Ben-Gvir said in a statement he prayed for Israel's victory over Palestinian militant group Hamas in the war in Gaza and for the return of Israeli hostages being held by militants there. He repeated his call for Israel to conquer the entire enclave.
Suggestions that Israel would alter rules at the Al-Aqsa compound have sparked outrage in the Muslim world and ignited violence in the past. There were no immediate reports of violence on Sunday.
A spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Ben-Gvir's visit, which he said "crossed all red lines."
"The international community, specifically the U.S. administration, is required to intervene immediately to put an end to the crimes of the settlers and the provocations of the extreme right-wing government in Al-Aqsa mosque, stop the war on the Gaza Strip and bring in humanitarian aid," Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
24 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Rising communal tensions, internal divisions & economic boycotts spark fear across Maha villages
PUNE: Even as the dust settles on the violence that rocked Yavat in Daund tehsil of Pune district a week ago following a derogatory social media post and desecration of a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on July 26, the fissures caused by rising communal tensions and divisions within the Muslim community not to mention the economic fallout of the same are becoming increasingly apparent. The Yavat Gram Panchayat has only added fuel to the fire by passing a resolution calling for a survey to identify 'outsiders' settled in the town (HT) Yavat – a town with a population of around 20,000 on the Pune-Solapur highway – has for long been a melting pot with migrants from Marathwada and other states settling there over the years, many of them Muslims. In the aftermath of the violence however, there is now a rift within the Muslim community. A lifelong resident of Yavat on condition of anonymity said, 'We've lived together for generations. But now, everyone is looking over their shoulder. The word 'outsider' is being bandied around even among our own people.' Faiyaz Tamboli, a local property dealer, echoed similar sentiments. 'A day prior to the violence, I had tea with friends from all communities. The next day, houses were attacked. Nothing feels the same anymore,' he said. The Yavat Gram Panchayat has only added fuel to the fire by passing a resolution calling for a survey to identify 'outsiders' settled in the town, especially in areas such as Indira Nagar and Sahakar Nagar that are home to many migrant Muslims. Sarpanch Sammer Durge even claimed that the man accused of desecrating the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was an outsider and that such elements must be identified to maintain peace. A local social worker said, 'What's dangerous is that now, even Muslim communities are being internally divided. The word 'outsider' is being used to dehumanise, isolate, and eventually expel'. Earlier in May, a similar incident occurred in Mulshi tehsil in which the desecration of the idol at Nageshwar temple in Paud involving a minor and his father, both from the Muslim community, sparked the emergence of banners in villages such as Paud, Urawade and Ghotawade banning entry to 'non-local Muslims'. The police eventually removed these signboards and arrested those responsible but the damage lingered. Many Muslim-owned bakeries, shops, and scrap businesses were forced to shut down amid threats and calls for boycott. Najmuddin Khan, whose bakery had served Paud for over two decades, said, 'I've never experienced anything like this. Even during the worst of times, we lived together. This time, people stopped talking to us. They stopped buying from us. I had to shut down.' Another resident who did not wish to be named said that the small scrap shop he had been running for 10 years was burned down in the days after the desecration. 'No one came forward to help. Not even the landlord. I had to leave. I went back to my native village in Uttar Pradesh,' he said. Civil rights groups such as the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) documented how (Muslim) families who had lived and worked in Paud, Pirangut, Kolvan, and Sutarwadi for decades were suddenly labelled as 'outsiders' and driven out. The fear, residents said, was not just of violence, but of being isolated and pushed into poverty and invisibility. According to the PUCL's June 30 (2025) petition, nearly 40 families fled Paud and its neighbouring areas. The report stated that in addition to economic isolation, the atmosphere had become emotionally and psychologically hostile for minorities, especially amid calls from politicians, one such being Maharashtra minister for fisheries and port development, Nitesh Rane. Rane in March launched the 'Malhar Certification', a private initiative for Hindu meat traders, which he claimed would identify '100% Hindu-run mutton shops' and ensure 'no adulteration'. The certification, he said, would help customers avoid Halal meat and favour meat prepared through Jhatka methods by Hindu butchers. 'Only Hindus will be involved in Jhatka production. There will be no ritualistic slaughter,' Rane said, indicating an economic boycott of Muslims. General secretary of PUCL, Milind Champanerkar, observed, 'This isn't just about local vendettas. There's a larger ideological push that's creating deep polarisation.' He added that these boycott campaigns are not spontaneous but part of a deliberate strategy to isolate Muslims from economic and social life. 'Unless these actions are nipped in the bud, they'll become normalised. The administration has to draw a red line,' he said. When contacted, Pune district collector Jitendra Dudi told Hindustan Times that he had received the PUCL's letter and was re-evaluating the situation. 'According to feedback from Pune rural and Pimpri-Chinchwad police, the boycott was reportedly withdrawn two months ago. Still, I've asked for fresh reports. If unconstitutional activities are continuing, disciplinary action will follow.' Whereas superintendent of police Sandeep Singh Gill said that the signboards with hate messages that had emerged in villages including Paud had been taken down. 'The situation is now normal,' he said. However, for many affected families, normalcy is still far away. Elsewhere in Guha village of Rahuri, Ahilyanagar, another dispute—over the identity of a 500-year-old dargah—similarly led to Muslim shopkeepers being asked to vacate their premises. While members of local religious trusts denied perpetrating any such organised campaign, residents said that the message is clear: Muslims, especially those not rooted in the village for generations, are being viewed with suspicion. From Yavat to Paud to Rahuri, the thread connecting these incidents is not just communal polarisation but also the stigmatisation of 'outsiders' and the shrinking space for coexistence. Earlier this year in February, a gram sabha in Madhi village of Ahilyanagar district (formerly Ahmednagar) passed a resolution barring Muslim traders from participating in the annual Kanifnath Maharaj Yatra. The move was justified by some villagers as an attempt to preserve 'traditions' though critics labelled it as an unconstitutional act of exclusion. Despite the outcry, the decision was allowed to stand. A similar pattern emerged in June when the Shri Shaneshwar Devasthan Trust in Shani Shingnapur dismissed 167 employees, including 114 Muslims, citing issues like absenteeism and underperformance. The move came shortly after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Sangram Jagtap threatened to launch a protest over the hiring of Muslim staff at the shrine. While the trust denied any communal motivation, activists and locals saw it as another sign of increasing religious discrimination being brushed off as administrative routine. PUCL vice-president Anwar Rajan summarised the concern as, 'Communal rhetoric is no longer confined to speeches. It's influencing village decisions, reshaping local economies, and redefining who belongs and who doesn't. If not countered urgently, these patterns could become permanent'.
Hindustan Times
24 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Will ‘substantially' increase India tariffs, Trump warns
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to raise tariffs on India 'very substantially' within the next 24 hours, to penalise it for Russian oil purchases that he claimed were fuelling the 'Russian war machine'. Trump's threat comes just a day after the American leader criticised India for making large profits from refining and selling Russian oil on global markets. (REUTERS) 'With India, what people don't like to say about it, is that they are the highest tariffed nation. They have the highest tariff of anybody. We do very, very little business with India because their tariffs are so high,' Trump said during a television interview. 'So India has not been a good trading partner because they do a lot of business with us but we don't do business with them... we settled on 25% but I think I'm going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours because they're buying Russian oil. They're fuelling the war machine. If they do that, then I'm not going to be very happy,' he added. The president's latest threat, in brief remarks to American TV channel CNBC, came hours after India mounted its strongest defence yet of Russian energy ties, with external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Monday calling American tariff threats 'unjustified and unreasonable.' 'Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security,' Jaiswal said on Monday, defending India's Russian energy imports as essential for affordable energy costs. Russia on Tuesday backed India's right to choose its trading partners, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying sovereign countries have the right to select partners in trade and economic cooperation based on their interests. 'We believe that sovereign countries must have and do have the right to choose their trade partners, the partners in trade and economic cooperation, on their own and independently determine those modes of trade and economic cooperation that suit the interests of a country in question,' Peskov told journalists, commenting on the US threats regarding India. Trump's threat comes just a day after the American leader criticised India for making large profits from refining and selling Russian oil on global markets. On July 30, Trump announced a 25% tariff on Indian goods, while citing New Delhi's purchases of Russian energy and military equipment as irritants in the bilateral relationship. Later on July 31, Trump termed India and Russia 'dead economies' in a post on Truth Social. Following the president's statements, key administration officials, such as secretary of state Marco Rubio and treasury secretary Scott Bessent have also made statements criticising Indian energy purchases from Russia. According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, India bought 38% of all Russian crude oil exports in June, behind only China. CREA also estimated that India purchased 49 billion euros—roughly $56 billion—worth of Russian fossil fuels in 2024. The 24-hour ultimatum threatens to derail trade negotiations scheduled to begin August 25 in New Delhi, with both countries having described the talks as making substantial progress toward a breakthrough agreement. 'To India's surprise, President Trump's position on Russia has moved considerably since his 2024 election campaign. What he is expressing, however, is consistent with views amongst both Democrats and Republicans across the political spectrum, which hold that India could be doing more to economically constrain Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine,' said Sameer Lalwani, non resident senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment. 'India has made reasonable defences of its oil and arms imports, but this will certainly make a trade deal harder and further complicate US-India strategic partnership. That said, there is a plausible path out of this since oil imports from Russia are not as politically salient for the Modi government as agriculture protections, and India has previously cooperated with the last Trump administration on oil imports, specifically from Iran,' Lalwani added. The president's new tariff threat creates immediate uncertainty for Indian exporters already grappling with the 25% tariff that is set to take effect on August 7, while potentially forcing New Delhi to choose between energy security and trade relations with its largest export market. India exported $86.5 billion worth of goods to the US in fiscal 2025, creating a $41 billion trade surplus that has become a persistent irritant in bilateral relations. However, industry experts estimate that 45-50% of Indian goods may avoid additional tariffs due to existing exemptions for electronics, pharmaceuticals, and energy products. Trump's escalating threats prompted rare political unity in India, with both the ruling BJP and opposition Congress condemning the American president's approach in unusually strong terms. Congress leader Manish Tewari said Trump's 'disparaging remarks hurt the dignity and self-respect of Indians,' adding: 'The time has come to call out this constant bullying and hectoring.' BJP leader Baijayant Jay Panda quoted former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger in a post on X: 'To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal.' Indian stock markets ended slightly lower on Tuesday as fresh tariff warnings dampened investor sentiment. The BSE Sensex fell 308.47 points or 0.38% to close at 80,710.25, whilst the NSE Nifty dropped 73.20 points or 0.30% to 24,649.55. During intraday trading, the Sensex hit a low of 80,554.40, declining as much as 464.32 points, before recovering somewhat by the close. Oil & Gas stocks led the decline, falling 0.96%, followed by Energy (-0.74%) and FMCG (-0.61%) sectors.
Mint
24 minutes ago
- Mint
Trump denies his own remark threatening 100% tariffs on countries buying Russian oil: 'Never said a percentage, but...'
United States President Donald Trump on August 5 denied his own earlier statement of imposing 100% tariffs on countries procuring Russian oil, stating "he never said a percentage" and would see what unfolds over the next period after holding a meeting with Russia. "I never said a percentage, but we'll be doing quite a bit of that. We'll see what happens over the next fairly short period of time... We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow. We're going to see what happens..." Trump stated during a press conference at the White House, which was mainly organised to talk about the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. In July, Trump said 100% secondary tariffs would be imposed on countries that procure Russian exports unless Moscow decides for a major peace deal with Ukraine in 50 days, a deadline that would end in early September. Meanwhile, former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has cautioned US President Donald Trump against burning 'a relationship with a strong ally like India' after him saying that the US will substantially hike tariffs over oil imports from Russia. She added he had given 'China a pass'. Haley pointed out that China is an opponent of the United States and 'number one buyer of Russian and Iranian oil' and even then it has been provided with a 90-day tariff halt by the Trump government. "India should not be buying oil from Russia. But China, an adversary and the number one buyer of Russian and Iranian oil, got a 90-day tariff pause. Don't give China a pass and burn a relationship with a strong ally like India," she mentioned. Haley was the final major contender to exit the Republican presidential primary race last year. Trump stated he would raise the tariff charged on imports from India from the existing rate of 25% "very substantially" over the next 24 hours due to New Delhi's non-stop purchases of Russian oil, Reuters reported. "They're fueling the war machine, and if they're going to do that, then I'm not going to be happy," Trump informed CNBC in an interview, Reuters report noted.
