Egypt has strongly denounced the raid on the Al-Aqsa Mosque by a group of Israeli extremists, who were protected by the Israeli police forces. The Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam and is located in the occupied East Jerusalem.
The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on Monday, urging the immediate stop of such actions that anger millions of Muslims worldwide and fuel violence in the occupied Palestinian territories. The statement said that the repeated raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the attempts to divide it by time and space, in violation of international law and legitimacy, will not change its historical and legal status as an Islamic Waqf.
The statement also warned that such actions undermine the efforts to revive the peace process based on the two-state solution, which is supported by regional and international actors. Egypt called on the influential international parties, the United Nations, and its relevant bodies, to fulfill their responsibilities towards protecting the rights of the Palestinian people.
Egypt reaffirmed its full commitment to support the Palestinian cause and to back all efforts to reach a just and comprehensive solution that led to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
According to reports, dozens of extremist settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Monday, from the side of the Moroccan Gate, under heavy guard by the Israeli police. They performed provocative tours and rituals in the mosque’s courtyards, before leaving from the direction of Bab al-Silsila. The Islamic Waqf Department in Occupied Jerusalem said that the settlers received explanations about their alleged temple on the site of the mosque.
The Israeli forces and police imposed severe restrictions on the entry of worshippers to the mosque from Jerusalem and other parts of the occupied Palestinian territory. They checked their identities and detained some of them at its external gates. The raid coincided with the start of the Jewish holidays.