Palestinians, neighboring Jordan and the Gulf states on Tuesday slammed far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, over his brief visit to the Temple Mount site in Jerusalem earlier in the day.
"The Temple Mount is open to all," Ben-Gvir said on Twitter, using the Jewish name for the site. Video footage showed him strolling at the periphery of the compound, surrounded by a heavy security detail and flanked by a fellow Orthodox Jew.
An Israeli official said Ben Gvir's 15-minute visit to Al Aqsa compound complied with a so-called status quo arrangement, dating back decades, that allows non-Muslims to visit on condition they do not pray. The visit passed without incident.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh cast the visit as a bid to turn a major mosque there "into a Jewish temple". Addressing his cabinet, Shtayyeh also called on Palestinians to "confront the raids into Al Aqsa mosque."
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry earlier said it "strongly condemns the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by the extremist minister Ben-Gvir and views it as unprecedented provocation and a dangerous escalation of the conflict".
The United Arab Emirates also condemned what they said was a "storming" of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, state news agency WAM reported. As a result, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's schedule visit to the Gulf country later this was was postponed.
The UAE signed a normalization agreement with Israel in 2020.
Saudi Arabia condemned the "provocative actions" of Ben-Gvir, who "stormed" the al-Aqsa mosque compound on Tuesday, the country's foreign ministry said in a statement.
"The foreign ministry expresses the condemnation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of the provocative action by an Israeli official who stormed the al-Aqsa mosque compound," the statement said.
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Benjamin Netanyahu and Itamar Ben-Gvir attend cabinet meeting after contentious visit
(Photo: Yonatan Zindel/ Flash 90)
Jordan said it condemned the visit in "severest" terms. "Jordan condemns in the severest of terms the storming of the Aqsa mosque and violating it's sanctity," said a statement by the foreign ministry.
A spokesman for Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist group that rejects coexistence with Israel, said of Ben-Gvir's visit: "A continuation of this behavior will bring all parties closer to a big clash."
Ben-Gvir did not approach the mosque.
CONTESTED SITE
The Al Aqsa compound, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, is Islam's third-holiest site. It is also Judaism's most sacred site, a vestige of two ancient temples of the faith.
On Tuesday, pious Jews fasted to commemorate a Babylonian siege on the first of those temples, in the 6th century BC.
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A man uses his phone to take a 'selfie' photo with the Dome of the Rock shrine
(Photo: AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
Ben-Gvir's cabinet duties include overseeing Israeli police who are formally tasked with enforcing the ban on Jewish prayer at the compound. He once advocated ending that ban, but has been more non-committal on the matter since aligning with Netanyahu.
Almog Cohen, another lawmaker from Ben-Gvir's Jewish Power party, told Israel's Kan radio that the party's "aspiration is - yes, God willing, for all religions to be able to pray on the Temple Mount".
But Netanyahu, now in his sixth term as premier, has pledged to preserve the "status quo" around holy sites.