Israeli minister's visit to holy site sparks condemnations

JERUSALEM — Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Sunday, drawing condemnations from the Palestinians.

The visit came three days after Ben-Gvir and tens of thousands of Jewish nationalists marched through the Old City and just over a week into a fragile Gaza cease-fire, Agence France-Presse reported.

Escorted by heavy police and the internal Shin Bet security agency, Ben-Gvir visited the compound in the early morning hours, according to a video statement released by his office.

He said he was glad to come up to the compound, and thanked the police officers at the site.

Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement that the visit is "a blatant attack" on the holy site.

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry on Sunday condemned Ben-Gvir's "incursion" into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Ben-Gvir's visit is a provocative step and a grave violation that leads to escalation, the ministry's spokesperson Sinan Al-Majali said in a statement.

Egypt on Sunday condemned Ben-Gvir's visit to the mosque compound. "Such provocative behavior is inconsistent with the wisdom and responsibility of officials," the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement.

Egypt also called on Israel to immediately stop the practices that fuel tensions in the occupied territories of Palestine.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound has been administered by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, a Jordanian body, since 1948.

It is the second time that Ben-Gvir, the ultranationalist leader of the Jewish Power party, visited the site since he became a member of the Israeli coalition government. The government, the most far-right in Israel's history, was inaugurated last December.

The compound is a sensitive site in East Jerusalem holy to both Muslims and Jews and a longtime focal point of tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.

Israel gained control of East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East war and occupied it despite international criticism. Under a long-held status quo, the site is administrated by the Jordanian Waqf, allowing only Muslim worship.

Xinhua - Agencies