In DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip, a far-right Israeli minister’s visit to Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site on Sunday led to widespread regional condemnation, igniting fears of heightened tensions. This visit coincided with reports from Gaza hospitals of 27 more Palestinians killed by Israeli fire while seeking food aid, amid the region’s ongoing distress.
Israel is already under international scrutiny for the dire conditions in Gaza. The provocative visit by Itamar Ben-Gvir to the contested hillside compound risks undermining diplomatic efforts by global mediators to cease Israel’s prolonged two-year military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
The site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, is Judaism’s holiest area and was the location of ancient biblical temples. Muslims refer to it as the Noble Sanctuary, currently home to the Al Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest location in Islam.
Visits are considered a provocation across the Muslim world and openly praying violates a longstanding status quo at the combustible site.
According to the status quo, Jews can tour the site but are not allowed to pray, with Israeli police and troops ensuring security. Following Ben-Gvir’s visit, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed that Israel would maintain existing norms at the holy site.
Ben-Gvir’s visit took place after Hamas released videos of two reportedly malnourished Israeli hostages, sparking outrage in Israel and increasing pressure on its government to secure the release of other hostages taken during the conflict that began on October 7, 2023.
At the site, Ben-Gvir advocated for Israel to annex the Gaza Strip and suggested Palestinian relocation, reviving divisive rhetoric that has previously impeded peace talks. He criticized the Hamas video of 24-year-old Evyatar David, calling it a tactic to coerce Israel, using its troubling imagery of the skeletal hostage to make his point.
Ben-Gvir’s previous visits to the site have been explosive and prompted threats from Palestinian militant groups. Clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian demonstrators in and around the site fueled an 11-day war with Hamas in 2021.
Steve Witkoff, the White House special envoy to the Middle East, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Thursday.
His Sunday visit was swiftly condemned as an incitement by Palestinian leaders as well as Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Sufian Qudah, spokesman for the foreign ministry in neighboring Jordan, which serves as the custodian of the Al Aqsa Mosque, condemned what he called “provocative incursions by the extremist minister” and implored Israel to prevent escalation.
Videos of hungry and suffering Israeli hostages
Israel has been jolted this week by videos of hostages with their faces hollow, ribs protruding and bodies ravaged by hunger.
The videos – released by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the second-largest militant group in Gaza – triggered outrage across the political spectrum in Israel. Tens of thousands rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday urging Israel and the United States to urgently pursue their release after suspending ceasefire talks.
Right-wing politicians who have opposed deals with Hamas said the footage reinforced their conviction that the militant group must be obliterated once and for all.
“From here we need to bring a message and ensure that from today, we conquer all of the Gaza Strip, declare sovereignty over all of the Gaza Strip, take out every Hamas member and encourage voluntary emigration,” Ben-Gvir said on a video posted on social media after his visit to the holy site.
Deadly chaos grips food distribution points
Palestinians reported more deadly violence at aid sites and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said a staff member had been killed when Israeli forces shelled its office with artillery.
With international anger growing at the situation in Gaza, around 90,000 protesters in Australia marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, turning the city landmark into a symbol of opposition to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Hospital officials said Israeli forces killed at least 27 Palestinians seeking food on Sunday in the besieged territory, where witnesses described facing gunfire as hungry crowds surged toward aid sites and the malnutrition-related death toll also rose.
Desperation has gripped the Palestinian territory of more than 2 million, which experts warn is facing “a worst-case scenario of famine because of Israel’s blockade and nearly two-year offensive.
Yousef Abed, among the people en route to a distribution point, described coming under indiscriminate fire, seeing at least three people bleeding on the ground.
“I couldn’t stop and help them because of the bullets,” he said.
Two hospitals in southern and central Gaza reported receiving bodies from routes leading to Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid sites, including 11 killed in the Teina area en route to a distribution point in Khan Younis.
Three Palestinian eyewitnesses, including one traveling through Teina, told The Associated Press that shootings occurred on the routes, which are in military zones secured by Israeli forces. They said they saw soldiers open fire on hungry crowds advancing toward troops.
Eyewitnesses seeking food have reported similar gunfire attacks in recent days near aid distribution sites, leaving dozens of Palestinians dead. The United Nations reported 859 people were killed near GHF sites from May 27 to July 31 and that hundreds more have been slain along the routes of U.N.-led food convoys.
GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. Israel’s military has said it only fires warning shots as well. Both claimed the death tolls have been exaggerated.
Israel’s military did not immediately responded to questions about Sunday’s reported fatalities at the sites but said it was reviewing Red Crescent’s claim. GHF’s Media Office said there was no gunfire “near or at our sites.”
Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry said six more Palestinian adults died of malnutrition-related causes over the past 24 hours. It said Sunday’s casualties brought the death toll among Palestinian adults to 82 over the five weeks since the ministry started counting deaths among adults in late June. Malnutrition-related deaths are not included in the ministry’s count of war casualties.
Ninety-three children have also died of causes related to malnutrition since the war in Gaza started in 2023, the ministry said.
Israel has taken a series of steps to increase the flow of food into Gaza over the past week, but U.N. and relief groups say conditions have not improved.
The war began when Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, and abducting another 251. They are still holding 50 captives, around 20 believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed more than 60,400 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, is staffed by medical professionals. The United Nations and other independent experts view its figures as the most reliable count of casualties. Israel has disputed its figures, but hasn’t provided its own account of casualties.
Metz reported from Jerusalem and Magdy from Cairo.
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