The visit comes three days after Ben-Gvir and tens of thousands of Jewish nationalists marched through the Old City and just over a week into a fragile Gaza ceasefire.

With a year-long escalation of Israeli-Palestinian violence, tensions are running especially high in the Holy Land as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover coincide.

Heavy clashes, shootings, rocket strikes and a car-ramming attack have marred a period when the Muslim holy month of Ramadan coincides with the Jewish Passover and Christian Easter.

Despite appeals for restraint, violence has surged since Israeli police clashed with Palestinians inside Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque this week.

Tensions have soared between Israel and Palestinians during what is both the Jewish Passover and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, prompting condemnations and calls for restraint from abroad.

The confrontations, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and on the eve of the Jewish Passover holiday, triggered a cross-border exchange of fire in Gaza and stoked fears of further violence.

The incident came amid fears that tensions built up during a year of escalating violence could be unleashed at the Al Aqsa mosque, where clashes in 2021 set off a 10-day war with Gaza.

Israeli police say they were forced to enter the compound after 'masked agitators' locked themselves inside the mosque with fireworks, sticks and stones.

Friction at Al Aqsa Mosque has set off violence in recent years, although the sacred site remained relatively quiet on Saturday.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has called for all parties to refrain from steps that could escalate tensions in and around the holy sites.