Jerusalem, ALRAY - Israeli extremist national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, broke into the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem on Tuesday morning, under heavy protection from Israeli occupation forces.

The heavily-armed Israeli occupation special forces were deployed across the Al-Aqsa compound to provide protection for Ben-Gvir.

According to one employee of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the ultra-extremist Israeli minister stormed the Al-Aqsa compound at around 7 a.m. through Al-Maghariba gate.

Heavily escorted by Israeli occupation forces, Ben-Gvir carried out a provocative tour of the Muslim sacred compound for nearly 13 minutes.

Ben-Gvir's incursion into the Al-Aqsa Mosque came despite Israeli media reports claiming that the Israeli far-right minister had backtracked on his plans to storm the Muslim sacred site this week.

After Ben-Gvir left the compound, dozens of Israeli settlers, escorted by Israeli occupation forces, broke into the Al-Aqsa Mosque and performed religious rituals inside the mosque, particularly in the Bab al-Rahma area.

During the raid, the Israeli settlers also stormed the Dome of the Rock.

Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation authorities impose strict restrictions on Palestinian worshippers seeking to access the Al-Aqsa Mosque and seized their ID cards at its outer gates.