Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has renewed his call for the Jewish state to occupy the Gaza Strip and support the voluntary emigration of Palestinians from the enclave. He made the remarks on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which is sacred to both Muslims and Jews. According to The Times of Israel, he prayed openly there for the first time, which Jews are not allowed to do.

"From (the Temple Mount), the place where we proved that sovereignty is possible, we must send a message: conquer all of Gaza, declare sovereignty over the entire Gaza Strip, eliminate all Hamas members, and support voluntary emigration. Only then will the hostages return home and we will win the war," the far-right minister emphasized in a video posted on the social network X.

Ben Gvir's visit to the holy site was condemned by Saudi Arabia and Jordan, who said it further escalated the conflict in the region. The Jordanian Foreign Ministry said it was a clear violation of the historical and legal status quo of the site and an unacceptable provocation and escalation.

"The Czech Republic bases its foreign policy on international law. Any annexation or forced population transfers are unacceptable from our perspective. Support for any country is not unconditional. Just as we criticize the violent actions of settlers in the West Bank, we also reject extremist rhetoric that undermines the chance for a just and lasting solution to the conflict. The Czech Republic has long supported a two-state solution based on dialogue between the two sides," Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský (unopposed) responded to Ben Gvir.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said that his government's policy towards the site has not changed and will not change.

"We have no reports that (the annexation of Gaza) is an option that the Israeli government is realistically considering," security analyst Milan Mikulecký warned."I wouldn't give it more weight than it has. In every country, sometimes even in the government, you will find an extremist element, what is essential is what the Israeli Defense Forces do and what international law allows, not the cries of extremists. They do not control the course of the world," the expert noted.

Jordanian administration

The Temple Mount, which Muslims call the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), is where Muslims pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. The site is sacred to Jews because they once had two temples there. The remains of one of these are the Western Wall, which forms part of the Temple Mount wall.

Ben Gvir has long advocated for a change in the rules on the Temple Mount, which has been administered by a Jordanian government foundation for decades, although security there is provided by Israel. The Chief Rabbinate banned Jewish prayer there in 1967, saying that the site could be ritually impure and that it was uncertain where exactly the Jewish shrine stood.

Ben Gvir has called for the occupation of Gaza, which Israel captured in 1967 and from which the last Jewish settlers withdrew under the 2005 peace accords, several times in his ministerial office. He has also spoken on several occasions about the"voluntary emigration" of Palestinians from the territory.

The Israeli military launched an offensive in Gaza in October 2023 in retaliation for a Hamas terror attack in southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. More than 60,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died in the Israeli offensive so far, according to Hamas-controlled local authorities, but the claim cannot be independently verified.

A significant portion of the population in the enclave faces malnutrition and starvation, according to international organizations, and according to UN data, more than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed there since the end of May while trying to obtain food. The AP agency, citing local hospitals, reported another 27 deaths on Sunday.

"I saw death when I was getting flour for my children. Every day they sleep hungry. They want something to eat," said Gaza resident Zainab Dakka.

"Dangerous" packages with the help of

Israel has been repeatedly criticized by international organizations, including the UN, some Western governments, and even voices within the Jewish state, for its policy of restricting the distribution of humanitarian aid.

According to a German government spokesman, supplies remain so inadequate that they cannot alleviate the overall situation in the zone. Israel airdropped ninety food aid packages into the enclave on Saturday, and France sent forty tons via four flights from Jordan.

However, this strategy is criticized by the organization Doctors Without Borders."The packages that are dropped from planes fall into densely populated areas - so they are dangerous, they fall on the roofs of tents, people are injured. Or the packages fall into the so-called designated combat zones, where it is extremely dangerous for people to approach them because they are in danger of being shot by the Israeli side," said Caroline Willemen, project coordinator for Doctors Without Borders.

Two more tankers of diesel are now heading to Gaza, Egyptian television reported on Sunday. However, it has not yet been confirmed that the trucks have reached the enclave's borders. Israel cut off fuel supplies to Gaza at the beginning of the year. Since then, according to the UN, it has allowed the transport of insufficient amounts of fuel. These are mainly lacking for hospitals, which use them to generate electricity.

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Meanwhile, ceasefire talks continue to be complicated. Hamas declared on Saturday that it would continue armed operations until an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital is established.

Criticism of Hamas

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz strongly condemned newly released footage of Israeli hostages on Sunday. Macron wrote on X that Hamas embodies heinous cruelty and boundless inhumanity. “The unbearable footage of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza reminds us once again of this horror,” the president noted.

Merz told Bild that the footage of the hostages, which horrified him, showed that “Hamas must no longer play any role in the future of Gaza.” He also expressed confidence that Israel would continue to deliver humanitarian aid and not respond to Hamas’ cynicism, which he said was torturing kidnapped Israelis.

Eviatar David, who appeared in the video, was kidnapped by terrorists from a dance festival the year before last. Since then, Hamas has been holding him in underground dungeons. In the footage, he says he is forced to dig his own grave."He has lost more than forty, maybe fifty kilograms of weight, as it appears from the video," said Tal Shoham, a released hostage.

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Events: Hamas increases pressure on Israel

Source: CT24

According to the head of the Israeli army, his country will continue its strikes until an agreement is reached for the release of the kidnapped Israelis.

Patience is also running out in parts of Israeli society. Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Tel Aviv again on Saturday, calling on the government to end the war and secure the release of all hostages as part of a comprehensive deal. France has already announced that it will recognize the State of Palestine in September, and other countries, including the United Kingdom, have announced the same move.