UPDATE – Palestinians condemn far-right Israeli minister’s visit to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa complex

UPDATES WITH MORE REACTIONS, REVISES HEADLINE, DECK

By Awad al-Rujoub

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Palestinians on Tuesday condemned a visit by Israel’s national security minister to the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem as an “unprecedented provocation” and a “declaration of war.”

Early on Tuesday, Itamar Ben-Gvir entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, a day after announcing he had postponed the visit amid warnings of unrest.

“Ben-Gvir’s intrusion represents an unprecedented provocation, a serious threat to the arena of conflict and contempt to calls to stop (the visit),” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry blasted the far-right official’s tour as “a "legitimization of further incursions to Al-Aqsa Mosque by hard-line settlers."

The ministry held Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible “for this brazen assault on Al-Aqsa.”

Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh warned that Ben-Gvir’s visit would “lead to more tension and violence and an explosive situation."

He called on the US “to assume its responsibilities and force Israel to stop its escalation” at Al-Aqsa Mosque “before it is too late,” according to state news agency Wafa.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh called the visit “a dangerous challenge to the sentiments” of the Palestinians.

-'Declaration of war'

In Gaza, Palestinian resistance group Hamas denounced Ben-Gvir’s visit to the Al-Aqsa complex as a “war” on the flashpoint site.

“Ben-Gvir’s intrusion is part of the continuing aggression on the holy sites and the war on Arab identity,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a statement.

“Al-Aqsa Mosque has been and will remain a Palestinian, Arab, and Islamic site,” the spokesman said.

Saleh Raafat, an executive committee member of the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), condemned Ben-Gvir’s visit as a “declaration of war” on the Palestinian people.

In statements to official Palestine Radio, Raafat called on Arab countries that have official relations with Israel “to reconsider the shape of these relations.”

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third-holiest site. Jews, for their part, call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Ben-Gvir holds far-right views on the Palestinians and has called for their displacement. He has repeatedly joined Israeli settlers in storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in East Jerusalem.

The far-right politician also caused a wave of escalation in the occupied city after setting up an office in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

Last November, Israeli President Isaac Herzog warned in a leaked audio clip that "the whole world is worried" about Ben-Gvir's extremist views.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognized by the international community.

* Writing by Ahmed Asmar