Another week and another Israeli offensive against the Palestinian people has led to more oppression and deaths. Last week, videos shared on social media showed Israeli police beating screaming Muslim worshipers with batons at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound. The raid caused outrage in Arab states and was criticised by Israel’s allies, including the United States.
Meanwhile, yesterday there were reports of tensions at Al Aqsa Mosque for the fifth straight day. A group of settlers stormed the compound’s courtyards under Israeli forces’ protection.
Also yesterday, a Palestinian child was reportedly killed by Israeli forces in the Aqabet Jaber refugee camp in Jericho. The incident comes as the Israeli army guards thousands of Israeli settlers marching to the abandoned illegal outpost of Evyatar to call on the Israeli government to legalise the outpost.
Last month, the Israeli parliament paved the way for Jewish settlers’ return to four settlements in the West Bank by amending a 2005 law that ordered their evacuation, a move condemned by the Palestinian Authority and the European Union.
During its weekly session, the Shura Council condemned the Israeli occupation forces’ storming of the blessed Al Aqsa Mosque as well as the assault on worshipers in it and the prevention of entry to it, and it also denounced the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and Southern Lebanon.
Under the chairmanship of the Speaker of the Shura Council, H E Hassan bin Abdullah Al Ghanim, the Council said that continuing Israeli violations of Al Aqsa Mosque causes more violence. They added that the timing of this attack in the holy month of Ramadan was an apparent provocation and a dangerous escalation by the occupation forces.
The Council called on the parliaments and councils of the Islamic world to condemn these attacks, not to stand idly by, and to put more pressure to prevent the continuation of such attacks, adding it is the responsibility of the international community to avoid these assaults on Muslims and their sanctities, noting the necessity of not neglecting the legal status of the occupied city of Jerusalem.
The increase in escalation and unchecked oppression from the Israelis continues an unacceptable trend from last year which the United Nations said was one of the deadliest years in the Israeli-Palestine conflict.
Around 171 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank last year and 59 in the blockaded Gaza Strip — the highest death toll in seven years. More needs to be done to stop these senseless acts and restore the pride of the Palestinian people.
