Israeli raids sweep West Bank, Ben-Gvir leads provocations at Al Aqsa

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
Today 13:08

The IOF have launched mass arrests and violent raids across the West Bank and Al-Quds, as settlers, led by Ben-Gvir, escalated provocations at Al-Aqsa Mosque.

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Israeli settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in al-Quds during the weeklong Jewish holiday of Sukkot on Oct. 2, 2023. (AP)

Israeli occupation forces carried out a series of wide-scale raids and detainments on Wednesday across the occupied West Bank and al-Quds. The raids included assaults on Palestinians, home invasions, and increased settler incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque.

One thousand three hundred settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque through the Maghariba Gate under heavy Israeli military protection, performing provocative Talmudic rituals in its courtyards, according to the Islamic Waqf in al-Quds. The incursions coincided with the second day of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

Israeli settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque and performed provocative dances and songs under military protection. pic.twitter.com/C24syDNLVi
— TIMES OF GAZA (@Timesofgaza) October 8, 2025

Israeli Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also raided Al Aqsa Mosque this morning under tight protection from Israeli police.

Israeli Minister Ben-Gvir stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and performed religious rituals in its courtyards. pic.twitter.com/8QKciilbYx
— TIMES OF GAZA (@Timesofgaza) October 8, 2025

Hamas denounced Ben-Gvir’s incursion as a "calculated provocation" timed with the painful anniversary of the first Al Aqsa massacre.

The Al Aqsa Massacre took place on October 8, 1990, when Israeli occupation forces opened fire on worshippers at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, killing 17 Palestinians and injuring more than 150 others.

The movement described the move as a dangerous escalation intended to entrench temporal and spatial divisions and advance Israeli Judaization schemes aimed at asserting control over the sacred site.

On its part, the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned, in the harshest terms, the storming of Al Aqsa Mosque by Itamar Ben-Gvir and extremist settlers, as well as their provocative practices within the holy site.

It is worth noting that Israeli police also deployed heavily around Bab al-Asbat in al-Quds from early morning.

Raids and detainments across West Bank

Meanwhile, hundreds of Israeli settlers stormed Al-Ibrahimi Mosque in the city of al-Khalil. Concurrently, Israeli occupation forces raided the al-Arroub refugee camp north of the city at dawn, detaining dozens of Palestinians after assaulting them, tying their hands, and blindfolding them.

Field interrogations were conducted inside the al-Arroub Youth Center, which was temporarily converted into a detention site, before the detainees were released. During the operation, live fire was used against worshippers leaving dawn prayers, though no injuries were reported.

Following the raid, Bassam Jaber, Director-General of Education for northern al-Khalil, announced that classes in schools within al-Arroub would be postponed until Thursday to ensure the students' safety.

Elsewhere in al-Khalil, a 24-year-old Palestinian youth was shot near the apartheid wall in Tarqumiya town and taken to the hospital. The IOF also detained Palestinian child Mohammad Ahmed al-Alami and seized a motorcycle during a raid in the Beit Ummar town.

In Ramallah, a young man was detained after the IOF raided his home in Beit ‘Ur al-Tahta, while four others were detained in Hizma town, northeast of al-Quds. A former detainee from Beit Fajjar, south of Beit Lahm, was also detained.

In Nablus, a shop owner and his son were detained in Madama village, along with Orkhan Hamayel from Beita town, who had previously lost his left eye and hand in an injury three years ago.

In Tulkarm, two young Palestinians were detained during raids across several neighborhoods.

Wider pattern of aggression and land theft

These latest assaults come amid escalating Israeli military operations across the West Bank, where occupation forces have intensified raids, arrests, and closures in recent weeks. According to Reuters, "Israel" has approved new settlement plans to seize 35 dunams of land from the village of Kafr Qaddum, east of Qalqilya, for the construction of 58 new settlement units.

In the town of Rantis, west of Ramallah, Israeli soldiers detained on Tuesday farmers attempting to reach their olive groves and informed them that access to their own land would now require a special "entry permit", a policy that exemplifies the apartheid system imposed by the occupation to isolate Palestinians from their lands and facilitate ongoing "annexation".