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QNA
Cairo
Qatar has warned against continuous violations by Israeli authorities at Al Aqsa Mosque and the city of Al Quds.
In a speech at the emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs HE Sultan bin Saad al Muraikhi said the occupied city of Al Quds and Al Aqsa Mosque are facing an unprecedented and systematic Israeli aggression that takes the entire region to a very dangerous point. The situation would not have come to such a pass if there was an Israeli government that heeded to the international community and its resolutions.
He said the Israeli government's campaign to Judaise the city and close Al Aqsa Mosque in the face of worshippers and its attempt to impose a new reality in the holy city violates all international laws and United Nations resolutions, stirs Arab and Muslim emotions, and represents a fierce war against the Palestinian people.
Israel, the occupying power, is striving to change the historical reality in the Holy Mosque by installing metal detector gates in a dangerous precedent that has not happened for nearly half a century, especially after the burning of Al Aqsa Mosque in 1969.
He said these violations, backed by military force, are part of pre-planned move to Judaise the occupied city of Jerusalem and increased attempts to impose temporal and spatial division in Al Aqsa Mosque.
The minister said the measures taken by Israel to alter the status quo of East Jerusalem (Al Quds), including confiscation of land, property and displacement of the population, cannot change the demographic and religious status of the city.
The minister referred to the decisions of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Human Rights Council, which have repeatedly stressed that the city of East Jerusalem (Al Quds) is an occupied city and an integral part of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, and that Al Aqsa Mosque is a holy place for Muslims only.
He insisted that Qatar strongly condemns the ongoing Israeli violations of Al Quds and Al Aqsa Mosque, reiterated its total rejection of any change in the status quo in East Jerusalem and Al Aqsa Mosque.
He said Qatar calls upon the government of Israel to cease all actions and restore the situation in the city to what it was, including the removal of metal detector gates and respect for freedom of worship, and the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to practice their religious rites.
Qatar also calls upon the international community and its organisations to assume their responsibilities towards this unprecedented Israeli aggression and to immediately intervene to enforce its resolutions, especially in the protection of Islamic and Christian sanctities, and to protect the Palestinian people in their land and holy sites.
He said Qatar warns of the danger of the new aggression, the persistence of Israel in committing such grave violations and the challenge and disregard for the will and decisions of the international community and its repercussions on the situation in the region and the prospects for a comprehensive peace to achieve a two-state solution.
He reaffirmed Qatar's full support for the Palestinian people, who are struggling for the restoration of their rights, self-determination and the establishment of an independent and sovereign state on the borders of June 4, 1967 with Al Quds as its capital, saluting the steadfastness of the people in the protection Al Aqsa Mosque.
"We are facing a very dangerous situation, with all the dimensions it entails, which obliges us all to work with seriousness, sincerity and impartiality in order to adopt efficient steps to come up with resolutions that support the Palestinian cause, which was and will continue to be the central issue of Arabs. We must focus on practical measures for Arab and international action to achieve the desired objectives," he said.
He also sent a message to the Palestinians to end the state of division, saying that their unity is the cornerstone to achieve their legitimate demands and end the occupation to establish their independent state.
