Israel’s Ben-Gvir enters Al-Aqsa: Why was it seen as provocative?

Jews walk up and down the stairs opposite to the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, and near the compound known to Palestinians as Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City January 3, 2023. [Ronen Zvulun/Reuters]

Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem in a move Palestinians called a “deliberate provocation”, ignoring warnings from Israeli politicians that his appearance at the holy site would inflame tensions.

Ben-Gvir said he would not “surrender to the threats of Hamas” after the Palestinian group warned that his entrance to the site on Tuesday would cross a “red line”.