Itamar Ben-Gvir, minister of internal security in Benjamin Netanyahu's newly installed government, made the visit under heavy police escort.

He has long advocated a tougher policy towards Palestinians and advocated for increased Jewish access to the Temple Mount, which houses the al-Aqsa Mosque important to Muslims.

- Our government will not give in to the threats from Hamas, writes Ben-Gvir in a pre-produced statement published in connection with the visit.

Ben-Gvir's previous actions have been interpreted by the terror-labeled Islamist movement Hamas as Israel possibly wanting to take control of the site, which is in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem.

They have led to strong reactions and Tuesday's visit is interpreted as another provocation.

The Temple Mount is administered from Jordan by a Muslim council, but Israel is responsible for security and access.

Jews and other non-Muslims are allowed to visit the area but they do not have the right not to perform prayer there.

The Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Archive image.

Photo: AP/TT

Short notice

Immediately after the quarter-long visit, Ben-Gvir wrote on Twitter that the place is "open to everyone and if Hamas thinks their threats will stop me, then they should understand that times have changed."

According to al-Jazeera, the visit took place at short notice and at a time when the site had few visitors, likely as a way to avoid direct confrontation with disgruntled Palestinians.

Israel's opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lipid has warned that Ben-Gvir's visit risks creating violence and called it a "deliberate provocation that could be life-threatening".

Jordan also criticizes the visit and calls it "storming".

"Dangerous Escalation"

In a statement from the Palestinian Authority, the visit to the Temple Mount is condemned as "a provocation and dangerous escalation of the conflict".

Terror-branded Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem says that Ben-Gvir's visit to the Temple Mount is a continuation of an "occupation of our holy places and a war against Arab identity".

- Our Palestinian people will continue to defend their holy places and the al-Aqsa Mosque, he says.

There are no reports of violence in connection with Tuesday's events on the Temple Mount.