JERUSALEM: Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir prompted strong condemnation from Arab nations and Palestinian group Hamas on Wednesday with his latest visit to the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City.

The firebrand politician was visiting the site in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem after returning to the government last month following the resumption of the conflict against Hamas in Gaza.

Ben Gvir had quit the cabinet in January in protest at the ceasefire agreement in the Palestinian territory. The compound is Islam’s third holiest site and a symbol of Palestinian national identity.

Under the status quo maintained by Israel, which has occupied east Jerusalem and its Old City since 1967, Jews and other non-Muslims are allowed to visit the compound during specified hours, but they are not permitted to pray there or display religious symbols.

Since the formation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government at the end of 2022, Ben Gvir has visited the compound on at least eight occasions, each time triggering international outcry. Jordan, the custodian of the site, condemned Wednesday’s visit as a “storming” and “an unacceptable provocation” in a foreign ministry statement.

Hamas called it a “provocative and dangerous escalation”, saying the visit was “part of the ongoing genocide against our Palestinian people”.

“We call on our Palestinian people and our youth in the West Bank to escalate their confrontation... in defence of our land and our sanctities, foremost among them the blessed Al Aqsa Mosque,” it said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Saudi foreign ministry expressed in a statement its “strongest condemnation” of the “storming” of the compound by Ben Gvir. Egypt also expressed “its total condemnation and denunciation” of Ben Gvir’s “storming of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of Israeli police”. The site is administered by Jordan under the status quo, while access to it is controlled by Israeli security forces.

‘Desecration’

Ben Gvir’s spokesperson said the minister “went there because the site was opened (for non-Muslims) after 13 days,” during which access was reserved for Muslims for the festival of Eidul Fitr and the end of Ramazan. In recent years, growing numbers of Jewish ultranationalists have defied the rules, including Ben Gvir, who publicly prayed there in 2023 and 2024.

Influential ultra-Orthodox politician Moshe Gafni, a member of the government majority, criticised Ben Gvir’s visit on Wednesday as a “violation of the sanctity of the holiest place for the Jewish people”.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2025