Arab League to hold emergency meeting over Israeli raid on Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa

By Laith Al-Jnaidi

AMMAN, Jordan (AA) – The Arab League will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss Israeli escalation at Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in East Jerusalem.

The meeting was called by Jordan, in cooperation with Egypt and Palestine, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The meeting “will be held in light of developments at Al-Aqsa Mosque as a result of Israeli police raid on the site and its assault on worshippers,” the statement said.

Jordan said it held a series of communications with Arab countries to stop Israeli assaults “which are a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, and a rejected and condemned behavior aimed at changing the historical and legal status quo.”

Amman said it will take, in coordination with Arab countries, all necessary measures “to stop the dangerous escalation and violations committed by the Israeli occupation and hold it accountable.”

Tension rose in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday after Israeli police detained around 350 worshippers from inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex.

A group of Palestinians barricaded themselves inside the Al-Qibli Prayer Hall in the complex after Jewish settlers called for a raid on the mosque. They attempted to prevent police from entering by closing its doors.

Surrounding the Al-Qibli Prayer Hall, Israeli police went up to the roof of the mosque, smashed some of the windows and initially intervened with sound bombs against the worshippers inside. Some of the people in the mosque tried to resist the police by throwing fireworks.

According to the Commission for Palestinian Prisoners Affairs, Israeli police began to release the detainees on the condition that they be removed from Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem’s Old City for a week.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents Islam’s third-holiest site. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

* Writing by Ahmed Asmar