The far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called for the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque - known to Jews as the Temple Mount - during an interview with Channel 12 over the weekend.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is an Islamic site where unsolicited visits, prayers and rituals by non-Muslims are forbidden according to decades-long international agreements. Religious Jews believe Al-Aqsa Mosque was the location of two historical Jewish temples.

The interview referenced growing tensions as Temple Movement groups, which facilitate regular Israeli settler incursions and call for the destruction of Al-Aqsa, call for mass stormings of the site throughout the Passover holiday which starts on Wednesday.

They have also called for conducting ritual animal slaughter at the site, which could trigger anger from Palestinians and Muslims worldwide, which Ben Gvir avoided answering questions about.

Israeli forces have routinely restricted Palestinians’ access to the mosque as they observe the holy month of Ramadan, in what Palestinians say is an infringement on their freedom of religious practice.

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