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RIYADH, UAE: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have strongly condemned the attacks on the ‘innocent’ worshippers at Al Aqsa mosque by the Israel Occupation Forces, which injured 205 Palestinians.
The kingdom’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement carried on Saudi-owned Al Arabiya, “Saudi Arabia rejects Israel’s plans and measures to evict dozens of Palestinians from their homes in Jerusalem and impose Israeli sovereignty over them.”
On the other hand, The UAE, which normalized ties with Israel last year, “strongly condemned” the clashes and the potential evictions, in a statement by the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khalifa al-Marar, and urged Israeli authorities to reduce tensions.
In the statement, Marar stressed, the need for Israeli authorities to assume their responsibilities — in line with international law — to provide necessary protection to Palestinian civilians’ right to practice their religion and to prevent practices that violate the sanctity of the Holy Al Aqsa Mosque.
Earlier on Friday, Israeli police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades on Palestinian youth at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque amid growing anger over the potential eviction of Palestinians from homes on land claimed by Jewish settlers.
At least 178 Palestinians and six officers were injured in the night-time clashes at the holy site and around East Jerusalem, as thousands of Palestinians faced off with several hundred Israeli police in riot gear.
