Rabat – The United States has expressed its concern over the controversial visit of the Israeli National Security Ministry Itamar Ben-Gvir to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Thursday.
“We absolutely are concerned by today’s visit to Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem,” the State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters on Thursday.
In addition, he reaffirmed the US’ “longstanding” position in support of the status quo at Jerusalem’s holy site, stressing that “any unilateral action or rhetoric that deviates or jeopardizes the status quo is completely unacceptable.”
The Israeli minister made his controversial visit early Thursday alongside the Minister of the Negev and the Galilee Yitzhak Wasserlauf and a number of settlers to commemorate the annual Jewish holiday Tisha B’Av.
Al Aqsa mosque, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, is a sacred site for both Muslims and Jews, creating tensions between Palestinians and Israel on who has the right to worship on the holy site.
The incident triggered a wave of condemnation from several Arab countries, who criticized Ben-Gvir’s storming of the Jerusalem site.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its strong “denunciation” of the incident, while Jordan warned of the “serious consequences of allowing extremists to storm the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and their provocative practices under the protection of the Israeli occupation police.”
Meanwhile, Morocco condemned the “serious consequences of allowing extremists to storm the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and their provocative practices under the protection of the Israeli occupation police,” according to a source from the country’s foreign ministry.
The source also stressed Morocco’s “total refusal” of all the actions hindering peace efforts in the region.
In addition, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called for “urgent international intervention” to protect Jerusalem and its holy sites.
