JERUSALEM, Aug 14 (NNN-MA’AN) – Israeli regime’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, made a provocative visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a sensitive site in East Jerusalem, yesterday, sparking widespread condemnation.
In video footage released by his office, Ben-Gvir is seen accompanied by far-right Zionist supporters, walking around the compound and chanting, “The people of Israel live!”
He was joined by Yitzhak Wasserlauf, the Zionist regime’s minister for the development of the Negev and Galilee.
Several supporters were heard reciting a Jewish prayer, which is totally prohibited under the longstanding status quo. Photos circulating on social media showed dozens of Zionist Jews, praying and bowing at the site.
“Our policy is to allow prayers,” Ben-Gvir said.
Israel’s state-owned Kan TV news reported that, about 1,500 right-wing Zionist activists accompanied Ben-Gvir during the visit.
The visit prompted a response from the regime’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, which said in a statement that, Ben-Gvir could not establish new policies at the site.
“No minister, including the National Security Minister, has a private policy,” the statement read. It emphasised that, the visit “deviated from the status quo” and reaffirmed that Israel’s policy regarding the site “has not changed and will not change.”
Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesperson, released a condemnation, warning in a statement of the “consequences of the dangerous provocations of the terrorist colonialist invasions in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
Jordan, the custodian of the compound, condemned the visit. The Jordanian Foreign Ministry, described the actions of the two senior Zionist officials as a “blatant violation of international law and the historical and legal status in Jerusalem and the holy sites.”
The continued unilateral Israeli actions and ongoing violations of the historical and legal status in Jerusalem and its holy sites, require a clear and firm international stance, condemning these violations and breaches, and providing necessary protection for the Palestinian people, said the ministry.
A spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in Israel also condemned the visit, stating that, unilateral moves threaten the status quo in Jerusalem.
In a statement, Arab League Secretary-General, Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, condemned in the strongest terms, the visit, saying that, “those hardliners push the situation to the brink and deliberately provoke sentiments of millions of Muslims worldwide.”
The storming of Al-Aqsa happened under the protection of the Zionist police, that turned the Old City into a military barrack, and imposed restrictions on the access of worshippers, Aboul-Gheit stressed.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that, “the Israeli irresponsible behaviours violate international laws and the existing historical and legal condition in Al-Aqsa.”
The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound holds sacred significance for both Muslims and Jews and has long been a flashpoint for deadly violence between the two sides.
Under the status quo, non-Muslim worshippers may visit the site, in the heart of the Old City, but are not allowed to pray there.– NNN-MA’AN
