FILE - Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir attends a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Sept. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, Pool, File)
JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel’s far-right national security minister visited Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site on Thursday morning, threatening to disrupt Gaza cease fire talks.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist settler leader, said he had gone up to the contested Jerusalem hilltop compound of Al Aqsa Mosque to pray for the return of the hostages “but without a reckless deal.”
The move by Itamar Ben-Gvir threatens to disrupt sensitive talks aimed at reaching a cease fire in the 9-month-old Israel-Hamas war.
Jews and Muslims both claim the Jerusalem hilltop compound and visits like Ben-Gvir’s, while legal, are seen as a provocation.
