Pakistan condemns Israeli forces’ attacks on worshippers in Al Aqsa mosque

By Muhammad JuniadPublished On 06 Jan 2023

• Pakistan condemns attack by Israeli forces on worshippers in Jerusalem.
• Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri reiterates Pakistan's steadfast support to Palestinian cause.
• Urges international community to take prompt action to protect the Palestinian people.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has strongly condemned the attacks on the innocent worshippers in Al Aqsa mosque by the Israel forces that led to a number of injuries.

In a statement on Saturday, Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said such attacks, especially during the holy month of Ramadan, are against all humanitarian norms and human rights laws. He prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.

The spokesperson reiterated Pakistan's steadfast support to the Palestinian cause and urged the international community to take prompt action to protect the Palestinian people.

Chaudhri underscored the need for a two state solution in accordance with the relevant UN and OIC resolutions with the pre-1967 borders and Al-Quds Al Sharif as the capital of a viable, independent and contiguous Palestinian state.

What happened at Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem?

Israeli police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades towards rock-hurling Palestinian youth at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday amid growing anger over the potential eviction of Palestinians from homes on land claimed by Jewish settlers.

At least 205 Palestinians and 17 officers were injured in the night-time clashes at Islam's third-holiest site and around East Jerusalem, Palestinian medics and Israeli police said, as thousands of Palestinians faced off with several hundred Israeli police in riot gear.

Tension has mounted in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, with nightly clashes in East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah - a neighbourhood where numerous Palestinian families face eviction in a long-running legal case.

Calls for calm and restraint poured in on Friday from the United States and the United Nations, with others including the European Union and Jordan voicing alarm at the possible evictions.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians packed into the hilltop compound surrounding the mosque earlier on Friday for prayers. Many stayed on to protest against the evictions in the city at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But following the evening meal that breaks the Ramadan fast, clashes broke out at Al-Aqsa with smaller scuffles near Sheikh Jarrah, which sits near the walled Old City's famous Damascus Gate.

Police used water cannon mounted on armoured vehicles to disperse several hundred protesters gathered near the homes of families facing potential eviction.