Pakistan slams Israel's Al-Aqsa attack, urges world to protect Palestinians

Such attacks are against all humanitarian norms, human rights laws, says Foreign Office

KARACHI:

Pakistan on Saturday strongly condemned the “attacks on innocent worshippers in Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli occupation forces.”

A Foreign Office (FO) statement said that such attacks, particularly during the Islamic holy month of Ramazan, are against all humanitarian norms and human rights laws.

“We pray for the speedy recovery of the injured, reiterate our steadfast support to the Palestinian cause, and once again urge the international community to take prompt action to protect the Palestinian people,” it said.

The FO statement said that for lasting peace, it is essential to have a two-state solution in accordance with the relevant resolutions by the UN and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, with the pre-1967 borders and Jerusalem as the capital of a viable, independent and contiguous Palestinian state.

Read more: Israeli police, Palestinians clash at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa, scores injured

Israeli forces fired stun grenades, tear gas, and rubber-coated bullets to disperse Muslim worshippers inside the Haram al-Sharif area of Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday evening.

At least 205 people have been injured in Israeli attacks on Al-Aqsa and in other parts of occupied East Jerusalem, including the Damascus gate of the Old City and the Sheikh Jarrah district, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Tensions have run high in the Sheikh Jarrah area all through the week as Israeli settlers swarmed in after an Israeli court ordered the eviction of Palestinian families.

Al-Aqsa is the third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the “Temple Mount” and claim it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980, a move that has never been recognised by the international community.