Türkiye condemns Israeli minister's Al-Aqsa raid under security escort

Türkiye has "strongly" condemned a raid carried out by Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Occupied East Jerusalem.

"We strongly condemn the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by an Israeli Minister under the protection of security forces," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

The ministry said the ongoing genocide in Gaza, along with Israeli authorities' provocative actions intended to change the historical status quo of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, pose a threat to regional security and stability.

The statement also called on the international community to take necessary measures against Israeli officials' actions that will further escalate tensions in the region.

Ben-Gvir, accompanied by Israeli police, carried out the raid on Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem early Thursday morning.

Ben-Gvir’s continued provocation

Ben-Gvir, head of one of two religious-nationalist parties in Netanyahu's coalition, has a long record of making inflammatory statements appreciated by his supporters.

Israeli police in the past have prevented ministers from ascending to the compound on the grounds that it endangers national security.

Israel's official position accepts decades-old rules restricting non-Muslim prayer at the compound, Islam's third holiest site and known to Jews as the Temple Mount, who believe it is the site of two ancient temples.

Ben-Gvir's ministerial file gives him oversight over Israel's national police force.

A lawyer by training, Ben Gvir first became known for defending young Jewish extremists suspected of terror and hate crimes.

In 2016, he represented two young extremists charged with the murder of a Palestinian family in the West Bank village of Duma following an arson attack.

The case, where 18-month-old toddler Ali Dawabsheh was killed alongside his parents after Molotov cocktails were flung into their homes, caused an international uproar that led to the indictment – but in fact, most cases of settler violence against Palestinians are rarely prosecuted.

Ben Gvir himself lives in a settlement near Hebron in the occupied West Bank.