Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited Israel Police, Border Police, and IDF personnel deployed to Hebron to assist in securing the Tomb of the Patriarchs during increased pilgrimages as part of the Passover holiday.
Ben-Gvir, as part of his ministerial post, is responsible for managing Israel Police and the Border Police.
Israel Police commented that approximately 25,000 people had visited the Tomb of the Patriarchs in a single day.Â
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits Israel Police and Border Police in Hebron amid Passover pilgrimages to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, April 2025. (Credit: ISRAEL POLICE)
A senior Hamas official, Abdul Rahman Shadid, denounced Ben-Gvir’s visit, claiming that his “storming” of the holy site constituted an “additional and dangerous escalation against Islamic holy sites.”
“The incitement by occupation leaders and their desecration of holy sites is part of the ongoing genocidal war against the Palestinian people and their sanctities,” Shadid added.
He also claimed that Israeli authorities “exploit Jewish holidays to intensify their assaults and implement settlement schemes, backed by the right-wing occupation government.”
Ben-Gvir’s history of holy site controversy
Three Palestinians in Hebron were indicted by Israel Police for allegedly forming a terror cell aimed at assassinating Ben-Gvir and his son in November.
In April 2024, Ben-Gvir encouraged Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. He visited the site several times in moves that have been denounced by haredi Jews as desecration on at least two separate occasions, as well as drawing backlash from US in August of 2024.
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