ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday condemned Israeli actions against worshippers at Al-Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem and urged the international community to protect the Palestinian people, its foreign office said.
At least 57 Palestinians were injured in clashes with the Israeli police at the compound on Friday, Palestinian medics said. They were injured by rubber-coated metal bullets, along with dozens of cases of suffocation, during a raid by Israeli security forces.
Nearly 150,000 Palestinians performed the third and penultimate Friday prayer of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa, despite restrictions imposed on checkpoints at the entrances to Jerusalem and in the city’s streets.
“Pakistan strongly condemns the use of tear gas by drones against innocent worshippers in Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli Occupation Forces today,” the Pakistani foreign ministry said on Twitter late Friday.
“Such actions, especially in Ramadan, are reprehensible and violate all international norms and laws. We urge international community to protect Palestinian people.”
Last week, Pakistan’s political leaders and foreign office condemned Israeli attacks on Al-Aqsa mosque and demanded immediate action by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
On April 15, Israeli security forces raided the Al-Aqsa mosque, when thousands of Palestinians were gathered for prayers during the holy month of Ramadan. Over 150 Palestinians were injured and more than 300 were arrested in clashes set off by the raid.
The clashes came at a particularly sensitive time, when Ramadan this year coincided with Passover, a major weeklong Jewish holiday beginning Friday at sundown, and Christian holy week, which culminated in Easter Sunday. The holidays were expected to bring tens of thousands of faithful into Jerusalem’s Old City, home to major sites sacred to all three religions.
In recent weeks, Israeli forces have killed dozens and injured countless Palestinians in the occupied East Jerusalem and other areas.
