The new Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, went early on Tuesday, January 3, to the esplanade of the Mosques, a holy place at the heart of tensions in East Jerusalem, despite threats made by the Palestinian Hamas .

"Our government will not give in to Hamas' threats," far-right figure Itamar Ben Gvir said on Tuesday after the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, called the minister's intention to stand down. go to the esplanade as a "prelude to an escalation in the region".

The third holiest site in Islam and the holiest site in Judaism known as the "Temple Mount", the esplanade is located in the Old City of Jerusalem, in the Palestinian sector occupied and annexed by Israel.

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Under a historical status quo, non-Muslims can go there at specific times but cannot pray there.

However, in recent years, a growing number of Jews, often nationalists, surreptitiously pray there, a gesture denounced as a "provocation" by the Palestinians.

Itamar Ben Gvir, who went there several times when he was an MP, had announced his intention to go there as minister.

"Our Palestinian people will continue to defend their holy places and the Al-Aqsa Mosque," Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem promised on Tuesday, calling the visit a "crime."

“Those who threaten must be dealt with with an iron fist”

In 2000, the visit to the esplanade by Ariel Sharon, then head of the Israeli right-wing opposition, had already been perceived as a provocation by the Palestinians.

The next day, bloody clashes opposed Palestinians and Israeli police, marking the start of the second Intifada (Palestinian uprising, 2000-2005).

In May 2021, violence in East Jerusalem, especially on the esplanade, was the prelude to an 11-day war between Hamas and Israel.

“The Temple Mount is the most important place for the people of Israel, we maintain freedom of movement for Muslims and Christians, but the Jews will also climb the Temple Mount and those who threaten must be treated with a iron fist," added Itamar Ben Gvir.

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A trained lawyer living in one of the most radical settlements in the occupied West Bank, Itamar Ben Gvir became a minister in December 2022 in the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the most right-wing in the country's history.

He defends Israel's annexation of the West Bank, where 2.9 million Palestinians and 475,000 Israelis live, in settlements deemed illegal under international law.

He also advocates the transfer of part of the Arab population of Israel, considered disloyal, to neighboring countries.

His detractors believe that by regularly going to where the tensions are the strongest, Itamar Ben Gvirne is only setting fire to the powder.

With AFP

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