An Israeli mob led by far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir stormed Jerusalem’s holiest site on Thursday in a pilgrimage seen by Muslims as provocative.
The move represents a new challenge to the rules governing one of the most sensitive places in the Middle East, where tensions have fuelled violence in the past.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the visit as a “provocative intrusion” that endangers the fragile status quo of the Jerusalem compound.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly denied there was any change to the rules banning Jews from praying at the site, which is holy to both Muslims and Jews, and rebuked Ben-Gvir, the national security minister.
“There is no private policy of any minister on the Temple Mount, neither the Minister of National Security nor any other minister,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
His comments come at a particularly sensitive time, with the war in Gaza at risk of escalating into a wider conflict that could involve Iran and its regional proxies.
An Israeli mob led by far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir stormed Jerusalem’s holiest site today in a pilgrimage considered provocative by Muslims (the site photographed on August 13)
Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, visited the site as Jews marked Tisha B’Av, a day of mourning commemorating the destruction of the biblical Temples.
The Al-Aqsa compound is revered by Jews as a remnant of their two ancient temples and is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation.
But under rules dating back decades, while Jews are allowed to visit the site, they cannot pray there.
“Our policy is to allow prayer,” Ben-Gvir said as he walked past a line of Jewish visitors at the site this morning.
The Waqf, the foundation that runs the site, said about 2,250 Jews entered the site on Tuesday.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesman denounced Ben-Gvir’s visit as a “provocation” and called on the United States to intervene “if it wants to prevent the region from exploding uncontrollably.”
Ben-Gvir, leader of one of the religious nationalist parties in Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition, has repeatedly clashed with other ministers over his calls to allow prayers at the compound.
