Abu Dhabi (WAM, agencies)
Yesterday, the UAE strongly condemned the storming of extremist settlers in the courtyard of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, protected by Israeli forces. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation reiterated its firm position on the need to provide full protection for Al-Aqsa Mosque and to stop serious and provocative violations in it, and the need to respect the role of the sisterly Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in caring for sanctities and endowments in accordance with international law and the existing historical situation, and not to prejudice the authority of the powers of the Jerusalem Endowment Administration and the affairs of the mosque maximum.
The ministry called on the Israeli authorities to reduce the escalation and end a state of tension and congestion, and stressed the importance of exercising maximum restraint to avoid drifting to new levels of instability.
The ministry also stressed the importance of supporting all regional and international efforts to advance the peace process in the Middle East, as well as putting an end to illegal practices that threaten the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Meanwhile, Bahrain, Kuwait and Egypt expressed their strong condemnation of extremist settlers’ storming of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, stressing the need for calm, and to push forward the just and comprehensive peace process in the Middle East. It affirmed its firm and supportive stance for the legitimate rights of the brotherly Palestinian people to establish their independent state, in accordance with the two-state solution and the resolutions of international legitimacy.
Yesterday, the Israeli police clashed with Palestinians inside Al-Aqsa Mosque, while the international envoy to the Middle East, Tor Wencesland, called on the Israelis and Palestinians to exercise “the utmost restraint.” “The message from the international community is clear: Avoid a new escalation,” Wenesland said.
Thousands of Israelis participating in the “Flags March” entered the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem through Bab al-Amud, celebrating 55 years of occupying the eastern part of it, a year after a bloody escalation with the Gaza Strip erupted after the “Quds Day” march.
This march, organized by the Israelis, angered the Palestinians, who seek to make East Jerusalem the capital of their future state.
Israeli forces dispersed dozens of young men who raised Palestinian flags on Salah El-Din Street, hundreds of meters away.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society confirmed that about “40 injuries, at least, were recorded in the vicinity and inside the Old City” during confrontations, 15 of which were taken to hospital. The “Red Crescent” confirmed that the Israeli police “assaulted our crews in the vicinity of Bab al-Amud.”
On the other hand, he said that his crews in Ramallah and Nablus in the West Bank dealt with about 60 injuries during protests rejecting the flag march and confrontations with the Israeli security forces. Palestinians took to the streets in several areas in the occupied West Bank, and carried Palestinian flags. The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned “allowing extremists and a member of the Israeli Knesset to storm the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque,” saying that this “was done under the protection of the Israeli police,” and warned against the worsening of the situation in light of allowing the march in occupied Jerusalem. Yesterday, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, quoted the ministry’s spokesperson, Haitham Abu Al-Ful, as saying: “The extremists’ incursions and provocative actions are a violation of the historical and legal status quo, and international law.” He stressed that “the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Holy Al-Haram Al-Sharif with its entire area of 144 dunams, is a place of worship purely for Muslims, and that the Department of Endowments for Jerusalem and the affairs of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jordan is the legal authority with exclusive jurisdiction to manage the affairs of the campus and regulate entry to it.”
The spokesman called on Israel to desist from all practices and violations against the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and to respect its sanctity, stressing the need to stop all measures aimed at changing the existing historical and legal situation, and to respect the authority of the Jerusalem Endowment Administration and the affairs of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.