ISTANBUL 

Arab countries continued to condemn on Tuesday the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem by far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, calling it a dangerous provocation and a blatant violation of international law and the status quo governing the city’s holy sites.

Ben-Gvir stormed Islam’s third-holiest site on Monday to mark Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967.

In a Tuesday statement, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry called Ben-Gvir’s intrusion a “provocative act” and “part of Israeli escalatory practices.”

It warned that such practices offend the beliefs and sentiments of millions of Muslims around the world and would have “grave consequences on the security and stability of the region.”

It called on the international community to "confront Israeli grave violations, and support the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people," including the establishment of the Palestinian state.

Jordan’s Foreign Ministry denounced his intrusion as a “flagrant violation of the historical and legal status quo (of Al-Aqsa Mosque) and of Israel's obligations as the occupying power.”

The ministry’s statement stressed that such intrusions will not “alter the fact that East Jerusalem is an occupied city over which Israel holds no sovereignty.”

Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs echoed the condemnation, describing the move in a statement as part of “ongoing Israeli attempts to alter the religious and historical status quo of Al-Aqsa Mosque” and calling it “a provocation to more than two billion Muslims worldwide.”

The ministry warned that “Israel’s escalation policy in the occupied Palestinian territories—including the ongoing genocidal war in Gaza—will inevitably widen the circle of violence and chaos across the region and undermine efforts to implement a two-state solution and achieve a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace.”

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said Ben-Gvir’s raid was part of “the genocide, displacement, Judaization, and annexation to which the Palestinian people are subjected.”

It called for "urgent international action” to halt the Israeli violations immediately and to take the necessary measures “to protect the Palestinian people from the aggression of the occupation army and settlers."

The extremist minister was joined by other Israeli officials, including Minister of the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Yitzhak Wasserlauf, and Knesset member Yitzhak Kroizer.

Monday’s intrusion was the seventh by the far-right minister into the Al-Aqsa complex since he joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in 2022.

More than 2,700 illegal Israeli settlers forced their way into the mosque complex on Monday under police protection to mark the occupation of East Jerusalem, with many performing provocative rituals in the mosque's courtyards, the Islamic Endowment Department in Jerusalem said in a statement.

Since the outbreak of the Gaza war on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli authorities have imposed strict measures limiting Palestinians’ access from the occupied West Bank into East Jerusalem.

Palestinians consider these restrictions part of Israel’s broader efforts to Judaize East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa Mosque is located, and erase its Arab and Islamic identity.

Since 2003, Israel has allowed illegal settlers into the flashpoint compound on an almost daily basis with the exception of Fridays and Saturdays.

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

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