Occupied Jerusalem (QNN)- Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir broke into the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem on Thursday morning. Ben-Gvir, backed by a large number of well-armed Israeli police officers, toured the eastern courtyard of Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. Local sources said the occupation forces prevented Muslim worshipers, mainly Palestinians, from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque, coinciding with Ben-Gvir's raid of the holy site. Last year, on May 21, the far-right minister also broke into the holy site and declared that Israel is “in charge”. “I’m happy to ascend the Temple Mount, the most important place for the people of Israel,” Ben-Gvir said during his 2023 break-in into Al-Aqsa. Since 2014, stormings by Israeli occupation officials to the Al-Aqsa Mosque have been considered provocations and a threat to the status quo. Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’s storming to the site in 2000 sparked the Second Palestinian Intifada, or uprising.