Saudi Arabia and Qatar joined the wave of condemnations in Arab countries on Friday morning against the ascension of Minister Yitzhak Wasraloff, MK Amit Halevy and three other Likud MKs to the Temple Mount on Jerusalem Day. Yesterday, the visits were condemned by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry statement stressed: "The kingdom categorically rejects violations and provocations of this kind, and emphasizes its stand with the Palestinian people and its support for all efforts to reach a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue."
Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf with journalist Arnon Segal on the Temple Mount, photo: Bidinu for the Temple Mount.
Qatar also condemned "the invasion of the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque by an Israeli minister, Knesset members and settlers – as part of the so-called flag parade – and considers it a blatant violation of international law and Jordan's custodianship of the holy sites in occupied Jerusalem."
The Qatari foreign minister also said in a statement that he "warns against the policy of escalation adopted by the Israeli government in the occupied Palestinian territories and stresses that attempts to undermine the religious and historical status quo at the Al-Aqsa Mosque are not only harming Palestinians but millions of Muslims around the world."
MKs Amit Halevi, Dan Illouz and Ariel Kellner, Photo: Arnon Segal
Qatar held Israel solely responsible for "the cycle of violence caused by this policy of escalation against the Palestinian people, its territories and the holy places of Islam and Christianity," and called on the international community to act urgently to stop it.
The condemnations come as the Arab League summit began in the Saudi city of Jeddah. The kingdom has already been visited by rulers of Arab countries, including Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Tunisian President Kais Saied and even Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. The latter will attend the summit after 12 years of boycotting Syria over his regime's war crimes.
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