DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned what it described as the storming of the courtyards of Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli officials and settlers, saying the incursions took place “under the protection of the occupation forces” and violated the sanctity of one of Islam’s holiest sites.
In a statement made on Wednesday, the ministry said the Kingdom “reiterates, in the strongest terms, its denunciation of the continued assaults on the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
The ministry also affirmed “its categorical rejection of anything that would undermine the historical and legal status of Jerusalem and its holy sites,” calling on the international community “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.”
The statement did not specify further details about the reported incidents. Saudi Arabia, which has repeatedly pressed for the protection of Jerusalem’s holy places, framed the latest episode as part of a pattern of violations and urged a coordinated international response.
Al-Aqsa Mosque, located in Jerusalem’s Old City, is a frequent flashpoint; periods of tension there often reverberate across the region. The Kingdom’s comments add to mounting diplomatic statements from Arab and Islamic capitals emphasizing the need to preserve the status quo at holy sites and to prevent provocations that could escalate violence.
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound On Wednesday and posted a video saying that “two years after” the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack, Israel was “winning” at the site and that “we are the owners of the Temple Mount.”
He urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pursue “complete victory” in Gaza— “to destroy Hamas,” he said— while talks mediated in Egypt continue over ending the war.
Ben-Gvir, who heads the nationalist-religious Jewish Power party and has previously threatened to quit Netanyahu’s coalition unless Hamas is “utterly destroyed,” has a record of challenging the decades-old “status quo” governing the hilltop compound.
Under that arrangement, administered by a Jordanian religious endowment, Muslims worship at the Al-Aqsa compound, while Jews may visit but not pray. Suggestions that Israel might alter those rules have repeatedly triggered outrage across the Muslim world and, in past episodes, set off violence.
