JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, on Tuesday visited the compound that houses the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, a flashpoint holy site sacred to both Jews and Muslims, Israeli media reported.
The Ynet news website carried pictures of Ben-Gvir touring the site under heavy security.
Israel’s opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid had warned that such a visit by Ben-Gvir would spark violence.
At the compound, Islam’s third holiest site after Mecca and Medina and Judaism’s most sacred as vestige of its two ancient temples, only Muslim worship is allowed.
(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
