GCC Secretary General Jassim Muhammed al-Budaiwi said in a statement that the incessant incursions by Israeli forces into al-Aqsa Mosque constitute an act of desecration and aggression against the first qibla of Muslims and Islam’s third holiest site.
He warned against the continued desecrations and attacks on holy sites in the occupied Palestinian territories, holding the Tel Aviv regime fully responsible for the dangerous repercussions of escalating the status quo and sowing the seeds of sedition and hatred.
Budaiwi also reiterated the GCC countries’ firm support for the Palestinian cause and holy sites in the occupied lands, Palestinians’ full sovereignty over all territories occupied since 1967, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East al-Quds as its capital.
The GCC secretary general finally called on the international community to adopt practical measures aimed at protecting Palestinian civilians and confronting attempts meant to alter the legal and demographic status of al-Quds.
Moreover, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani denounced the Israeli regime’s attempts to change the historical and legal status of al-Aqsa Mosque, imposing restrictions and assaults on Palestinian worshipers.
He slammed Israeli officials’ bids to normalize incursions and enforce temporal and spatial separation of the mosque as unacceptable.
Al Thani then urged the international community to shoulder its responsibilities toward protecting the rights of the Palestinian people.
Heavily armed Israeli forces stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Tuesday night before firing tear gas and stun grenades into the Qibli prayer hall, where hundreds of men, women, elderly people, and children were staying overnight to pray. Some eyewitnesses said rubber-coated steel bullets were also fired.
Israeli forces have wounded and rounded up hundreds of Palestinians during the attacks that have seen a rise since the beginning of the fasting month of Ramadan. Illegal Israeli settlers have, meanwhile, been freely violating the compound under the Israeli military and police force’s protection.
Palestinian resistance movements in the nearby Gaza Strip have been warning the regime that it would have to bear the consequences of the flare-up that it has brought about in al-Quds and beyond.
Since the start of the holy month, the Israeli regime has imposed strict restrictions on the entry and exit of Palestinians to and from the gates of al-Aqsa Mosque. Amid heightened tensions with Palestinian worshipers, Israeli settlers also press ahead with their frequent incursions and provocative rituals at the holy site.
On Thursday, at least 30 rockets were reportedly launched from southern Lebanon into the Israeli-occupied territories in retaliation against the Israeli aggression against al-Aqsa.
Resistance fighters based in Gaza also fired several rockets toward the occupied territories. Palestinian sources said the regime’s Iron Dome failed to intercept most of the retaliatory rockets.
Following the rocket attack, Israeli warplanes hit targets inside Gaza and positions of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in Lebanon.
The Israeli regime has in recent months stepped up its atrocities, killing around 100 Palestinians this year alone.