Sri Lankan group decries Israeli attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) – A group of Sri Lankans on Monday called on their government to express outrage of people of the island nation against the brutal attacks of Israeli forces on Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied East Jerusalem.

“[We] call on the Sri Lankan government to join the world community in condemning these barbaric and illegal actions by Israel, and express outrage of the Sri Lankan people against the continuing apartheid-style occupation of Palestine by Israel,” said a statement by the Sri Lanka Committee for Solidarity with Palestine.

Israeli police on Monday stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque and attacked the Palestinians who were on guard to prevent raids by Jewish extremists. The attacks have continued since Friday.

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, 278 people were injured during the Israeli incursion and 153 of them were taken to hospitals.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent said some of its employees were prevented from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The group also called on the Kingdom of Jordan to take action in fulfilment of its responsibilities as the official custodian of holy sites in Jerusalem, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque which is the third holiest site of Muslims.

Condemning the latest illegal eviction attempts against hundreds of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, the group also called on the UN “to fulfil its responsibilities to the colonized people of Palestine in this unresolved crisis of decolonization.”