CAIRO – The Arab League Council Monday held Israel responsible for closing al–Aqsa Mosque and preventing Muslim worshippers from holding their prayers at the holy site.
In a statement issued at the emergency meeting held at the level of permanent representatives in Cairo, the council condemned the recent Israeli measures and violations in Jerusalem and the holy mosque.
The council also slammed Israel for its attempts to change the historical reality in the mosque and the installation of electronic gates; which the council considered as a dangerous unprecedented move that did not occur for almost half a century, specifically since the burning of al-Aqsa mosque in 1969.
The council said these measures will lead to very serious escalations and grave consequences in igniting a religious war in the region.
The council held the Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for the violations and practices committed against al-Aqsa mosque and its holdings and historical documents, rejecting any change in the status quo in occupied Jerusalem and al-Aqsa mosque.
The Arab League Council stressed the need to stop and cancel all Israeli measures and to restore the status quo, including the removal of electronic gates and respect of the freedom of worship and the right of the Palestinian people to exercise their religious rituals.
The council called upon the international community and its organizations to shoulder their responsibilities towards this unprecedented Israeli aggression, to promptly intervene and enforce its resolutions on the protection of Islamic and Christian holy sites.
It warned that Israel’s persistence in committing such grave violations as well as its disregard for the will and decisions of the international community endanger achieving a just and comprehensive peace in the region based on a two-state solution.
Israeli forces reopened the holy compound on Sunday for Muslim prayers after a two-day closure; the mosque was closed on Friday morning following a shooting attack that left three Palestinians and two Israeli policemen dead.
However, Jerusalem’s top Islamic religious figures on Monday called upon Palestinians seeking to reach al-Aqsa Mosque not to go through the metal detectors installed by Israeli police and to pray outside the compound instead.
(WAFA)
