Saudi Arabia has denounced the ‘provocative practices’ by Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir at the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, saying such practices fuel conflict in the region.
“Saudi Arabia condemns in the strongest terms the repeated provocative practices by Israeli occupation government officials against Al Aqsa Mosque and emphasises that these practices fuel the conflict in the region,” its foreign ministry said.
Ben-Gvir visited the flashpoint Al Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem yesterday and said he prayed there, challenging rules covering one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East.
Under a delicate decades-old ‘status quo’ arrangement with Muslim authorities, the Al Aqsa compound is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation and Jews can visit but may not pray there.
“The kingdom emphasises its continued demand to the international community to stop the practices of Israeli occupation officials that violate international laws and norms and undermine peace efforts in the region,” the statement added.
Saudi Arabia had consistently voiced its condemnation of what it described as the continued blatant Israeli attacks on the sanctity of Al Aqsa Mosque.
Jordan also strongly condemned Ben-Gvir’s storming of Al Aqsa, and a foreign ministry statement has described the act as ‘a flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law, an unacceptable provocation and a condemned escalation’.
“Israel holds no sovereignty over Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif,” the statement said.
Ministry spokesperson ambassador Sufian Qudah reiterated Jordan’s “absolute rejection and firm condemnation of the continued, provocative incursions by the extremist minister, as well as the facilitation of repeated settler entries into Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli police.”
Such actions constitute a clear breach of the historical and legal status quo of the mosque and represent an attempt to divide it temporally and spatially, and a desecration of its sanctity, Qudah said.
The Waqf, the foundation that administers the complex, said Ben-Gvir was among another 1,250 who ascended the site and who it said prayed, shouted and danced.
Ben-Gvir has visited the site in the past calling for Jewish prayer to be allowed there and prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to issue statements saying that this was not the policy of Israel.
A spokesperson for Palestinians President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Ben-Gvir’s visit, which he said ‘crossed all red lines’. “The international community, specifically the US administration, is required to intervene immediately to put an end to the crimes of the settlers and the provocations of the extreme right-wing government in Al Aqsa Mosque, stop the war on the Gaza Strip and bring in humanitarian aid,” Nabil Abu Rudeineh said.
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