Turkey on Wednesday condemned a visit by Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, saying it would raise regional tensions.
“We condemn the raid by a member of the Israeli government on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound today,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. “This action by [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s accomplices is a dangerous decision that will again aggravate tensions in the region.”
Gvir also prompted strong condemnation from Arab nations and Palestinian militant group Hamas with his visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Wednesday.
The firebrand politician was visiting the site, which is sacred to Jews and Muslims, in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem after returning to the government last month following the resumption of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
Ben Gvir had quit the cabinet in January in protest of the ceasefire agreement in the Palestinian territory.
The compound is Islam’s third holiest site and a symbol of Palestinian national identity, but it is also Judaism’s holiest place, revered as the site of the ancient temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
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 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 defense 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.
© Agence France-Presse