UN Security Council members highlighted the need to preserve the status quo of the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, days after Israel's new far-right security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir briefly visited the site, Reuters reported.

The decades-old status quo allows only Muslims to worship at the compound, a place also revered by Jews who call it the Temple Mount. An Israeli official said that Ben-Gvir respects the arrangement, which allows non-Muslims to visit the complex but not to pray.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian representative to the UN, insisted that the Security Council take action, a move that is unlikely, given that the United States has traditionally defended Israel.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged all parties to refrain from steps that could escalate tensions in and around the holy sites.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan told reporters before the meeting: Jews are allowed to visit the holiest place in Judaism. It is the right of every Jew. Israel has not violated the status quo and has no plans to do so.

Ben-Gvir once called for the ban on Jewish prayer at the site to be lifted, but has dodged the question since joining Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Other members of Ben-Gvir's Jewish Power party are still in favor of such a move.

The United States is committed to a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and is concerned about any unilateral action that exacerbates tensions or undermines the viability of a two-state solution, said Robert Wood, U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the UN.