Called on the Israeli authorities to stop the escalation and not take steps to exacerbate the tension

UAE condemns Israeli minister's storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque

Itamar Ben Gvir during his presence in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque yesterday. Reuters

The UAE strongly condemned the storming of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir under the protection of the Israeli police, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation reiterated in a statement the UAE's firm position on the need to provide full protection for Al-Aqsa Mosque and stop serious and provocative violations there.

The ministry stressed the importance of respecting the role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in caring for holy sites and endowments in accordance with international law and the historical status quo, and not prejudice the authority of the powers of the Jerusalem Endowments Department and the affairs of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The ministry called on the Israeli authorities to stop the escalation and not to take steps to exacerbate tension and instability in the region, stressing the UAE's rejection of all practices that violate international legitimacy resolutions and threaten further escalation.

The Ministry stressed the importance of supporting all regional and international efforts to advance the Middle East peace process, 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.

In addition, the official spokesman for the Palestinian presidency, Nabil Abourdina, said that the storming of the Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, to the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, will have serious repercussions, stressing that «what happened is dangerous and requires the international community, specifically the US administration, which demands to maintain the status quo in Jerusalem, immediate action because prejudice to the Al-Aqsa Mosque played with fire, and will push the region to a religious war with ominous consequences, will affect everyone».

And led Itamar Ben Gvir, yesterday, storming dozens of settlers, to the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and Jerusalem sources reported that «settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque, from the side of the Mughrabi Gate in successive groups, and carried out provocative tours in the courtyards of the Temple Mount, and performed Talmudic rituals in the eastern region of it and opposite the Dome of the Rock».

According to the sources, members of the Israeli police and special units deployed in the courtyards of the mosque, and they removed worshipers and marabouts from the path of the incursions of Ben Gvir and settlers to Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Israeli police tightened its procedures at the gates of Al-Aqsa, and imposed restrictions on the entry of young men to the mosque, and checked the identities of worshipers and detained them at the doors.

In the same context, a number of Arab and Islamic organizations and countries condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation held the Israeli government fully responsible for the consequences of the continued systematic attacks that constitute a provocation to the feelings of Muslims all over the world and threaten security and stability in the region, calling at the same time on the international community to assume its responsibilities to put an end to these serious violations, and the need to preserve the historical and legal status of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, while the League of Arab States said that This incursion, committed by Ben Gvir for the second time, is condemnable and represents a dangerous escalation that pushes towards triggering a spiral of violence and tension and igniting the entire region, for which the Israeli government bears full responsibility for its consequences and repercussions.

The Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, Jassim Mohammed Al-Budaiwi, expressed his strong condemnation and denunciation of the continued violations of the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and stressed the need for immediate and urgent action to prevent these violations of the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard, holding Israel responsible for the reactions resulting from these violations, and renewed his call on all institutions of the international community to intervene strongly and quickly to revive efforts to enable the Palestinian people to exercise their legitimate rights to establish their state on the lands of 67 with East Jerusalem as its capital.

On the other hand, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the Israeli government's holding of its weekly meeting inside the tunnels of Al-Buraq Square in Jerusalem, as an integral part of its policy aimed at consolidating the annexation and Judaization of Jerusalem and completely separating it from its Palestinian surroundings, to permanently close the door to any opportunity to materialize the Palestinian state on the ground with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The Ministry announced its rejection of any decisions adopted by the Israeli government on the allocation of more budgets on settlements in Jerusalem or decisions to build new settlement units, with the aim of strengthening its control and imposing its sovereignty over the Holy City, and stressed that all Israeli actions towards Jerusalem are null and void and illegal and do not create any right to annex Jerusalem or sovereignty over it.

• The Gulf Cooperation calls on the international community to empower the Palestinian people with their legitimate rights.