Today, the visit of far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem provoked a reaction from the Palestinians.

Of his visit to the Temple Mount, Ben-Gvir said: “I am very happy to visit the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the most important place for the Jewish people.”

However, what the Jews call the Temple Mount is also the third holiest site for Islam after Mecca and Medina, as the Al-Aqsa Mosque is located there.

Jews are allowed to visit this place, but not to pray there.

Ben Gvir seeks greater access to the Temple Mount for Jews. However, the Palestinians fear that this will allow Israel to expand its control over the site.

“Hamas threats will not help anything, we own Jerusalem and all the land of Israel,” Ben-Gvir said during his visit today. The Minister of Homeland Security visited the same place last January.

According to the Wafa news agency, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Ben Gvir’s visit “a flagrant attack on a holy site that will have serious consequences.” “The efforts of Itamar Ben-Gvir and extremists like him to change the status quo at the Al-Aqsa Mosque are reprehensible and will fail,” he said.

Source: APE-MPE, dpa, Reuters, AFP.