Former title: Israeli National Security Minister once again enters the Temple Mount area

Xinhua News Agency, Jerusalem, May 22 (Reporter: Wang Zhuolun, Lv Yingxu) -- Israeli National Security Minister Ben Gewell, accompanied by the police, once again entered the Temple Mount area in the old city of Jerusalem (Muslims call it the "Noble Forbidden Area"), which is the first time he has entered this disputed area since the outbreak of the Israeli Palestinian conflict on October 7, 2023.

Ben Gewell released his video of Temple Mount on social media at noon that day. In the video, he made negative comments on Norway, Spain and Ireland's announcement earlier that day that they recognized the Palestinian State, and said that in the evening Israel would release video clips of several women detained by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip, to prove that Israel "must completely destroy Hamas".

He said that in order to destroy Hamas, Israel must fight in Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip. He also called for cutting off fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip and restricting the access of humanitarian aid.

As the leader of the far right party, the Jewish Power Party, Ben Gewell has entered the Temple Mount as a member of parliament for many times. On January 3, 2023, he entered the disputed area for the first time as the newly established Minister of National Security of the government.

The Temple Mountain, located in the old city of Jerusalem, is both a holy place of Judaism and Islam, and has long been the focus of the Palestinian Israeli conflict. Israel seized control of the Old City of Jerusalem from Jordan in the Third Middle East War in 1967. According to the agreement reached between Israel and Jordan, the jurisdiction of the Temple Mount still belongs to Jordan, and the security right is controlled by the Israeli police.