Incident involved lord ahmad, a uk government envoy for freedom of religion, and his delegation, as well as israeli forces. lord ahmad and his delegation were blocked from entering the al-aqsa mosque compound for 30 minutes. the islamic authority administering the site described the incident as “unacceptable”.
Incident happened last week, and took place at the al-aqsa mosque compound, a significant religious area for both muslims and jews. the hilltop site is located in occupied east jerusalem. non-muslims are allowed to enter the compound at certain times, but are not allowed to pray.
Incident happened when lord ahmad and his delegation were blocked from entering the al-aqsa mosque compound for 30 minutes by israeli forces. the islamic endowment that runs the site, the waqf, had provided the israeli police with the names and permit details of lord ahmad and his delegation prior to their arrival. the uk government does not recognize israel’s annexation of east jerusalem, so official visits are not coordinated with israeli authorities. the incident was likely due to the fact that itamar ben-gvir, the newly appointed national security minister of israel, had made a controversial and highly publicised visit to a site in occupied east jerusalem the week prior. international condemnation of the visit followed, and lord ahmad was criticised by a british-arab relations group for “turning a blind eye” to “racist positions”.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-64248489?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA
