The US State Department on Tuesday warned that the visit by Israel’s new hardline national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, to a contested Jerusalem holy site could further fuel tensions between Israel and the Palestinians. 

“We're deeply concerned by this visit,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters, without mentioning Ben-Gvir by name. “This visit has the potential to exacerbate tensions and to provoke violence.” 

In what the Palestinians considered a serious provocation, Ben-Gvir early Tuesday morning briefly toured the third holiest site in Islam and the most sacred site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. The 35-acre walled compound, known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, contains the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the golden Dome of the Rock. 

The sacred hilltop area is the scene of regular clashes between Israelis and Palestinians, which in May 2021 set off an 11-day war with Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that rules the Gaza Strip. In October 2000, a visit by then-right-wing Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon ignited the violence that spawned the second intifada.