Israeli far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits contested Jerusalem holy site
- Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits compound that houses the Al-Aqsa mosque, under heavy security
- The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called it an ‘unprecedented provocation’ and a ‘dangerous escalation’
Israel’s extreme-right firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir visited Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Tuesday for the first time since becoming a minister, his spokesman said, enraging Palestinians who see the move as a provocation.
“Our government will not surrender to the threats of Hamas,” Ben-Gvir said in a statement published by his spokesman, after the Palestinian militant group warned such a move was a “red line”.
Ben-Gvir entered the site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, flanked by a large contingent of police officers.
In an apparent effort to calm anger over the 15-minute visit, an official in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the premier was fully committed to the site’s decades-old status quo allowing only Muslim worship there.
The official said the visit complied with an arrangement dating back decades that allows non-Muslims to visit on condition they do not pray. Ben-Gvir did not approach the mosque itself.
His visit nevertheless drew condemnation from Arab neighbours and a rebuke from the US ambassador, while Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said the minister entering the site was “a continuation of the Zionist’s occupation aggression on our sacred places and war on our Arab identity”.
