Israeli minister flouts 1967 agreement by praying at Al-Aqsa mosque
Jews are forbidden from prayer at the east Jerusalem site under the 'status quo' agreement made between Israel and Jordan in 1967. It is the holiest site in Judaism and also the location of the Al-Aqsa mosque.
Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the Temple Mount while Jews around the world marked the Tisha B'Av fast day, commemorating the destruction of the first and second Holy Temples.
He was filmed at the site leading a Jewish prayer. He said: 'It is precisely from here, a message must be sent [to Hamas]: to ensure that we conquer all of the Gaza Strip, declare sovereignty over the entire Gaza Strip, take down every Hamas member, and encourage voluntary migration.
'Only in this way will we bring back the hostages and win the war.'
Mr Ben-Gvir's action forced Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to issue a statement saying that 'Israel's policy of maintaining the status quo on the Temple Mount has not changed and will not change'.
Saudi Arabia condemned 'in the strongest terms of the repeated provocative practices by officials of the Israeli occupation authorities against Al-Aqsa Mosque'.
Its statement added: 'The Kingdom affirms that such practices fuel the conflict in the region.' The Arab nation is supporting the New York declaration with France, which recognises a Palestinian State and calls on Hamas to lay down its weapons.
Other Israeli ministers and politicians visited the Temple Mount on Sunday, including Yitzhak Wasserlauf, the national resistance minister, and Sharen Haskel, deputy minister of foreign affairs.
Mrs Haskel said: 'In the shadow of Oct 7, with our people still reeling from war and 50 hostages still in Hamas's dungeons of torture, the pain in Israeli society runs deep. The anger and grief are overwhelming.
'But I went up [to the Temple Mount] to remember – and to promise. To promise leadership that unites, that heals, and that protects the next generation.'
Yisrael Katz, Israel's defence minister, visited the Western Wall, saying the Temple Mount was again under Israeli sovereignty after 2,000 years.
He said: 'Israel haters around the world continue to make decisions against us and protest, and we will strengthen our hold and sovereignty over Jerusalem, at the Western Wall, and the Temple Mount, forever.'
It is not against the status quo agreement for Jews to visit the Al-Aqsa mosque, only to pray there.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, called on the international community and US to intervene 'immediately to put an end to the crimes of the settlers and the provocations of the extreme Right-wing government in Al-Aqsa Mosque, stop the war on the Gaza Strip and bring in humanitarian aid'.
Jordan condemned Mr Ben-Gvir's prayer as 'an unacceptable provocation, and a reprehensible escalation.'
Israel has 'no sovereignty over the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque', Jordan added.
Around 1,200 Jews visited the Temple Mount on Sunday according to the Waqf, the authority which manages Islamic buildings at the site.
The Temple Mount has been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades. Jordan is the custodian of the site, but Israel controls security around it.
Palestinians and Israeli police force often clash there, especially during Ramadan and Passover, when religious Jews visit.
Ultra-nationalist religious Jews have sought to regain full control of the entire site, while Hamas and Islamic Jihad supporters have attacked Israeli police forces from the site.
Hamas has often said that the Al-Aqsa compound/Temple Mount was a red line, vowing to 'liberate' all of Jerusalem through jihad.
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