Itamar Ben Gvir, the new national security minister, made a brief visit on Tuesday to East Jerusalem’s Esplanade of Mosques, a holy site at the heart of Israeli-Palestinian tensions, prompting a wave of condemnation, AFP reported.

Ben Gvir, a member of the most right-wing government in Israel’s history, was accompanied during the visit by representatives of the Israeli security forces. A drone was flying over the esplanade, guards told AFP.

After his departure, the situation on the esplanade was calm, and worshipers and visitors could enter it without hindrance, an AFP journalist found.

The third holiest site in Islam and the holiest site in Judaism, known as the Temple Mount, the Esplanade of Mosques is located in the Old City of Jerusalem, in the Palestinian sector occupied and annexed by Israel.

According to the historical status quo, non-Muslims can visit the site at certain times, but cannot pray there. However, in recent years, a growing number of Jews, often nationalists, have secretly prayed there, and Palestinians and several Middle Eastern countries have condemned the action as a provocation.

Ben Gvir, known for his anti-Palestinian stance, has announced his intention to visit, and Hamas, the Palestinian organization that rules Gaza, has warned that such a visit could be a “prelude to escalation.”

“The government of Israel, of which I am a part, will not give in to a despicable and criminal organization,” Ben Gvir wrote on Twitter. “If Hamas thinks that threats will deter me, let them understand that times have changed,” he said.

“Our Palestinian people will continue to defend their shrines and the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” said Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem, who called Ben Gwir’s move “murderous.”

It is an “unprecedented challenge,” announced the Palestinian Foreign Ministry in Ramallah, in the West Bank of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian Territory.

Ben Gwir has previously visited the site as an MP, but this is his first time since joining the government last week.

Contrary to the position of the Israeli rabbinate, he maintains that Jews should be allowed to enter and pray there.

“What will people say when they see a minister, a practicing Jew, who ignores the position of the rabbinate,” wrote Yitzhak Yosef, Sephardi chief rabbi, in a letter to Ben Gvir.

Several Arab countries and Iran condemned his visit.

For his part, US Ambassador to Israel Tom Naides stressed that “the Biden administration has made it clear to the Israeli government that it opposes any measures that could undermine the status quo in the holy sites,” according to a spokesman for the US Office of Palestinian Affairs.

In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “determined to strictly uphold the status quo,” noting that other ministers had visited the esplanade in the past.