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Saudi condemns Israel MK’s storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque

3 weeks ago
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman in New Delhi on September 9, 2023. [EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images]

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman in New Delhi on September 9, 2023 [EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images]

Saudi Arabia has condemned “in the strongest terms” the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem by far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Anadolu reported.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry decried in a statement Israel’s “continued blatant attacks on the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque” and “continued violations of international law” and reiterated its “categorical rejection of anything that harms the historical and legal status of Jerusalem and its holy sites.”

The ministry also condemned the Israeli occupation forces’ targeting of a clinic affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Jabalia refugee camp, north of the Gaza Strip, and denounced the continued targeting of UN and relief organisations and workers by the Israeli occupation forces.

It called on the international community to “put an end to the Israeli war machine, which disregards humanitarian values, international laws, or norms, and to hold the Israeli occupation authorities accountable for all their violations.”

It further warned that the international community’s failure to deter such serious and ongoing violations would diminish the chances of achieving the desired peace, contribute to the decline in the credibility and legitimacy of international law, and negatively impact regional and international security and stability.

Ben-Gvir stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem under heavy guard yesterday. An official from the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem said the far-right minister was accompanied by more than 24 Israeli settlers.

The intrusion was the sixth by the far-right minister into the Al-Aqsa complex since he joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in 2022.

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