ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office on Monday condemned Israel’s “reprehensible” raid on the Al-Aqsa holy mosque in Jerusalem last week, calling upon the international community to take “urgent action” to end Israeli hostilities.
Israeli forces barged into the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest religious place of worship for Muslims around the world, on Saturday and forced worshippers out on the pretext that they were radicals planning riots.
The site is the third holiest in Islam and the holiest for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. It has long been a flashpoint for Israeli-Palestinian violence.
According to Palestinian officials, Israeli has killed at least 90 Palestinians this year as Tel Aviv steps up raids in Palestinian towns.
In response to Saturday’s raid on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry called on the world to force Israel to comply with its commitments and “halt violations of holy sites in Jerusalem, including Al-Aqsa Mosque, before it is too late.”
“Such reprehensible attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli occupation forces, during the holy month of Ramadan, have become a regular feature in recent years,” Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said in a statement.
Islamabad said such acts were not only a “grave violation” of the Palestinian people’s right to freedom of religion and belief but also “an affront to the religious sentiments of over 1.5 billion Muslims around the world.”
“Pakistan calls upon the international community to take urgent action to put an end to the Israeli transgressions that have been particularly ascendant since the beginning of this year,” MoFA said.
Pakistan reaffirmed its “unstinted support” for Palestinians and renewed its demand for an independent Palestinian state, with pre-1967 borders, calling it a “lasting solution” for the Israel-Palestine crisis.
