Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Sunday, a controversial move by the far-right politician amid heightened tensions in East Jerusalem.
The visit came three days after Ben-Gvir and tens of thousands of Jewish nationalists marched into the Old City and only a little more than a week after the fragile Gaza ceasefire.
“Jerusalem is our soul,” Ben-Gvir wrote on a telegram, alongside a photo of himself at the site in the heart of the Old City.
Using the Jewish name for the site, he wrote, “Don’t let Hamas’s threats scare us, I went up to the Temple Mount!”
The Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam and is administered by Jordan. Non-Muslims are permitted to visit the site, but do not pray there.
The compound is also the holiest site for Jews, who pray beneath it at the Western Wall.
Washington said it was “concerned by today’s provocative visit” by Ben-Gvir.
“This sacred site must not be used for political purposes, and we call on all parties to respect its sanctity,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
Hamas, the militant group that rules the blockaded Gaza Strip, condemned Ben-Gvir’s last visit to the site in January and condemned his actions again on Sunday.
“Israel will take responsibility for the barbaric infiltration of its minions and hordes of settlers,” the group wrote on Telegram.
Hamas said, “This move confirms the depth of the threat looming over al-Aqsa under this Zionist fascist government and the arrogance of its ministers”.
Israeli police confirmed Ben-Gvir’s visit in a statement and said it passed without incident.
– Old City cabinet meeting –
Later on Sunday, Israel’s top politicians held a rare cabinet meeting in the tunnels under the Western Wall.
Palestinians fear that their use as a massive museum threatens the foundations of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of the meeting, “Time and again, my friends and I have been forced to bow to international pressure from those who would re-divide Jerusalem.”
Some Israeli leaders “were prepared to give in to those pressures”, he argued, but “we acted differently,” according to a transcript from his office, celebrating the expansion of Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem considered illegal under international law.
Israel considers all of Jerusalem as its capital, but the Palestinians want the eastern region, including the Old City, as the capital of their future state.
The Jordanian Waqf Council of Islamic Affairs, which administers the mosque complex, described Ben-Gavir’s visit as “a gross storming and desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque”.
“No less alarming is the call by the occupation (Israeli) government to hold its meeting this morning in the Western Wall area,” said a statement from the Waqf.
Jordan condemned Ben-Gvir’s actions as a “provocative move” and a “dangerous and unacceptable escalation”.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Sinan Majli said, “This represents an open and unacceptable violation of international law and the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its holy sites.”
– ‘playing with fire’ –
Visits to the site by Jewish nationalists have long been criticized by Palestinians and Arab countries, while Ben-Gvir’s visits have taken on additional weight since he took office in December.
The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said “damaging the Al-Aqsa Mosque is playing with fire”.
“(It) will push the region into a religious war with unimaginable consequences that will affect everyone,” Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudineh said in a statement published by the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
The timing of Sunday’s visit also holds significance, with extremists marching through the Old City to celebrate the capture of East Jerusalem by Israeli forces in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Thursday’s event was marred by incidents of violence against Palestinians and journalists, while the United States condemned hateful chants such as “Death to Arabs” during the rally.
Ben-Gvir’s visit also comes after a Cairo-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza on 13 May ended five days of cross-border fighting.
Egypt’s foreign ministry on Sunday pressed Israel to “immediately cease tensions that inflame the already existing tense situation in the occupied (Palestinian) territories”.
The violence in Gaza killed 33 people in the coastal region and two in Israel, a civilian and a Gaza worker.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – AFP,