JERUSALEM: Oman’s foreign minister made a rare visit by an Arab official to a Jerusalem holy site on Thursday after holding talks with Palestinian leaders in the occupied West Bank.
Yusuf bin Alawi visited the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, an AFP journalist reported.
His visit comes in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital on December 6, a move that angered the Muslim world.
Such a visit would usually require coordination with Israeli officials. An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman said he was unaware of the visit and could not immediately comment.
Oman and Israel do not have official diplomatic relations, as is the case with most of the Arab world.
The Al-Aqsa mosque compound is the third-holiest site for Muslims and the scene of regular tensions between Palestinians and Israeli authorities.
It is on the hill that Jews refer to as the Temple Mount, the most sacred place in Judaism as the site of the first and second Jewish temples in the biblical era.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken repeatedly of improving ties with Arab nations in recent months, but there was no sign of a link to the minister’s visit.
Bin Alawi visited the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque at the compound and said “it is a duty of Arabs to visit the mosque if they can.”
Jerusalem’s status is perhaps the most sensitive in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel occupied east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it in a move never recognized by the international community. It sees the entire city as its capital.
The Palestinians want Jerusalem’s eastern sector as the capital of their future state.
Bin Alawi met Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah earlier in the day.
Oman minister makes rare visit by Arab official to Jerusalem holy site
Oman minister makes rare visit by Arab official to Jerusalem holy site
France calls for urgent meeting of UN Security Council on Iran
- The US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, plunging the Middle East into a new conflict
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council, saying the outbreak of a war between the US, Israel and Iran has “serious consequences” for international peace and security.
Macron spoke separately with leaders of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan and the president of the autonomous region of Kurdistan, his office said.
France was ready to deploy the necessary resources to protect its closest partners at their request, Macron said on X.
“The current escalation is dangerous for everyone. It must stop. The Iranian regime must understand that it now has no other option but to engage in good-faith negotiations to end its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, as well as its actions to destabilize the region,” Macron said.
“This is absolutely essential for the security of everyone in the Middle East,” he added.
“The Iranian people must also be able to build their future freely. The massacres perpetrated by the Islamic regime discredit it and necessitate that the people be given a voice. The sooner the better.”
The US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, plunging the Middle East into a new conflict that President Donald Trump said would end a security threat to the United States and offer Iranians a chance to topple their rulers.
