JERUSALEM

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accused far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Wednesday of trying to blow up the Middle East by changing the status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.

Ben-Gvir said early Wednesday that he gave his permission for illegal Jewish settlers to pray at the flashpoint site.

“Itamar Ben-Gvir is constantly trying to blow up the Middle East,” Gallant said on X.

“I categorically reject any ideas of hurting the Status Quo in the holy city of Jerusalem,” he added.

Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque "has not changed and will not change," after Ben-Gvir urged Jews to pray "publicly" at the complex.

The status quo allows Muslims to worship at the Al-Aqsa complex and followers of other religions to visit the site.

Ben-Gvir, leader of the far-right Jewish Power Party, is responsible for the police, who are tasked with preventing Jews from performing Talmudic rituals during their incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents Islam’s third-holiest site. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

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

*Writing by Mohammad Sio