As the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is approaching, Hamas has warned Israel against any change in the status quo at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem.
A long-standing verbal agreement was replaced in 2013 by a written agreement between the Palestinian Authority and King Abdullah II that acknowledged Jordan's role as custodian of the holy sites.
Just days after a new Israeli government was sworn in, one of its most extreme members paid a provocative thirteen-minute visit to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount/al-Aqsa Mosque complex. In this Q&A, Crisis Group expert Mairav Zonszein looks at what is behind this move and what it implies.