US expresses concern over hard-right Israeli minister's storming of Al-Aqsa

Ahram Online , Friday 28 Jul 2023

The United States has expressed its concerns over the far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s provocative visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Thursday morning, the Palestinian news agency, WAFA, reported.

Al-Aqsa Mosque
Jewish settlers storm the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, an Al Arabiya correspondent reported on Tuesday. (File photo: AFP)

 

“We absolutely are concerned by today’s visit to Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem,” Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, Vedant Patel, told reporters, reaffirming the U.S. position in support of the historic status quo of holy sites.

“We underline Jordan's special role in Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem,” Patel added. “Any unilateral action or rhetoric that deviates or jeopardizes the status quo is completely unacceptable.”

Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Morocco have all condemned the storming of the Al-Aqsa by Ben-Gvir and settlers.

On Thursday, Israeli military fire killed a 14-year-old Palestinian in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said Thursday, as an extremist Israeli Cabinet minister broke into the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Under a longstanding status quo, non-Muslims can visit the site at specific times but are not allowed to pray there.

However, Israeli settlers and politicians routinely violate the arrangement under heavy police protection. On 4 June, Israeli settlers led by extremist Israeli rabbi and MP Yehuda Glick stormed the compound to pray. Before that, on 21 May, Ben-Gvir also entered the holy site sparking widespread international condemnation.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognized by the international community.

Since early last year, the territory has seen violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities as well as a string of attacks by Palestinians on Israeli targets.

So far this year, violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has killed at least 203 Palestinians, 27 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources on both sides.

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