Israeli defence minister Israel Katz on Sunday vowed to strengthen Israel's control over Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, hours after thousands of far-right settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa compound.
"On Tisha B’Av, two thousand years after the destruction of the Second Temple, the Western Wall and the Temple Mount are again under the sovereignty of the State of Israel," Katz wrote in a post on social media.
"Israel haters around the world continue to make decisions against us and protest, and we will strengthen our hold and sovereignty over Jerusalem, at the Western Wall, and the Temple Mount, forever," he said.
Extremist national security Itamar Ben-Gvir earlier on Sunday openly prayed in the compound, violating a decades-old arrangement that prohibits non-Muslims performing religious rituals at the site.
The move triggered condemnation from several Arab governments.