RIYADH ( WNAM MONITORING): Saudi Arabia on Thursday condemned Israeli authorities for their “provocative” actions at Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem.
The Foreign Ministry said the Kingdom denounced “repeated provocative practices carried out by officials of the Israeli occupation authorities against” the mosque, “most recently the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by an official from the Israeli occupation authorities, under the protection of occupation police, as well as another official raising the flag of the occupation authorities within the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
Earlier on Thursday, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right minister of national security, stormed into courtyards at the mosque compound. It came as thousands of Jewish nationalists paraded through the streets of the walled city in celebration of Jerusalem Day, which commemorates Israel taking military control of the eastern part of the city during the 1967 war.
On Wednesday, Yitzhak Wasserlauf, the minister of the Negev, Galilee and national resilience, toured Al-Aqsa ahead of the nationalist event, which has become a show of force for Jewish activists and settler groups, and said Ben-Gvir was leading a “revolution” at the holy site. Both ministers belong to the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party.
“The Kingdom reaffirms its categorical rejection of all actions that undermine the historical and legal status of Al-Quds (the Arabic name for Jerusalem) and its holy sites,” the Saudi ministry added in its statement, which was posted on social media platform X.
“The Kingdom stresses its call on the international community to put an end to such practices that violate international laws and norms, and to hold the Israeli occupation authorities accountable for their serious and ongoing violations against Islamic holy sites and innocent civilians in the State of Palestine.”
