Saudi Arabia Condemns Israeli Attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque
In a statement on Thursday evening, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the Kingdom’s condemnation of the provocative practices carried out by one of the Israeli occupation officials who stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque amid intensive security reinforcements of the Israeli occupation forces.
Last Tuesday, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s minister of national security, demanded that settlers be allowed to storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem around the clock, with the possibility of praying there.
Kingdom Condemns Storming Al-Aqsa
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs added that the Kingdom is upset by the Israeli occupation authorities’ practices that undermine international peace efforts and contradict international principles and norms of respecting religious sanctities.
“These practices are a flagrant infringement and a provocation to Muslims’ feelings around the world,” added the ministry.
The Kingdom holds Israeli forces fully responsible for the consequences of such transgressions. It called upon the international community to “shoulder its responsibility to put an end to Israel’s escalation to protect citizens and to exert all efforts to end this conflict.”
Sacred Religious Sites
Being the place from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven during his Night Journey, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the plaza are one of the most sacred places to Muslims. Al-Aqsa has been a site of prayer and pilgrimage for millions of Muslims every year.
The plaza’s significance is not confined to Muslims. The Jewish consider it religiously important to them because it is home to the Temple of Jerusalem.
Arab leaders and world-famous public figures have called for protecting the holy religious sites and keeping them out of conflicts.
Palestinian Atrocities
The Israeli- Palestinian conflict is a decades-long conflict that Arab leaders have advocated for countless times. War-torn Palestine has been suffering from the consequences of this conflict and has been enduring various forms of suffering. As traumatizing as it can be for people to be forced out of their homeland to flee war, in this scenario, the ones who managed to flee are the luckiest. The less fortunate have to endure all types of provocative practices everyday. Basic human rights have no place there.
Saudi Arabia, along with other Arab nations, continue to support a two-state solution, with East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.