Move by Itamar Ben-Gvir angers Palestinians after Hamas warned such a step was a ‘red line’
Ben Lynfield in Jerusalem and agenciesThe extreme-right Israeli firebrandhas visited Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque compound for the first time since becoming a minister, angering Palestinians who see the visit as a provocation.
Under longstanding arrangements, Jews can visit but not pray at what they revere as their holiest site on which biblical temples stood, the second of which was destroyed by the Romans in AD70.
The Palestinian Authority, which nominally rules the West Bank, called the visit “an incursion to al-Aqsa mosque” and an “unprecedented provocation”. Avi Dichter, an MP from Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, on Monday backed Ben-Gvir’s planned visit during an interview on Israeli radio. Israeli media reported that Netanyahu, who returned to power last Thursday as head of the most far-right coalition in Israeli history, had discussed the matter with Ben-Gvir late on Monday.
The move, termed a “fast-track war crime” by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, was disclosed to Palestinians during a meeting of liaison officials from both sides, according to Nidal Younes, the head of the Masafer Yatta local council, as well as B’Tselem and another Palestinian source familiar with affairs in the area.
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