Palestinian PM accuses minister of staging visit as part of a bid to turn the shrine \u201cinto a Jewish temple\u201d.
\n OCCUPIED WEST BANK, Jerusalem
\nIsrael\u2019s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has entered the compound that houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, in a move that threatens a backlash from Palestinians who have labelled the act an \u201cunprecedented provocation\u201d.
\n\u201cOur government will not surrender to the threats of Hamas,\u201d Ben-Gvir said in a statement published by his spokesman, after the Palestinian group that governs the besieged Gaza Strip warned that such a move would cross a \u201cred line\u201d.
\nBen-Gvir has long called for greater Jewish access to the holy site, which is viewed by Palestinians as provocative and as a potential precursor to Israel taking complete control over the compound. Leading rabbis forbid Jews from praying on the site.
\nBen-Gvir wrote on Twitter after his visit that the site \u201cis open to all and if Hamas thinks that if it threatens me it will deter me, they should understand that times have changed\u201d.
\nOfir Gendelman, who has long served as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s Arabic-language spokesman, released a video saying that the \u201csituation is completely calm\u201d at the holy site following Ben-Gvir\u2019s departure.
\nHowever, the Palestinian foreign ministry said it \u201cstrongly 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\u201d.
\nJordan and the United Arab Emirates, which both have peace treaties with Israel, have condemned what they called Ben-Gvir\u2019s \u201cstorming\u201d of Al-Aqsa. Saudi Arabia also condemned the Israeli minister.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Palestinian PM accuses minister of staging visit as part of a bid to turn the shrine \u201cinto a Jewish temple\u201d. OCCUPIED WEST BANK, Jerusalem Israel\u2019s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has entered the compound that houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, in a move that threatens a backlash from Palestinians who have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305325,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-305315","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n