UPDATE - Arab countries blast Israeli minister’s storming of Al-Aqsa complex in Jerusalem

UPDATES WITH CONDEMNATIONS FROM QATAR, EGYPT

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) – Jordan, Qatar and Egypt on Sunday condemned Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem.

The far-right minister had forced his way into the flashpoint site early Sunday under Israeli police protection, in the second such tour since he joined the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late last year.

While inside the site, Ben-Gvir claimed Israel's ownership of the complex in a video message from the mosque's courtyard.

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry termed Ben-Gvir’s intrusion into Al-Aqsa complex as a “dangerous escalation”.

This is "a provocative step that is condemned, and a dangerous and unacceptable escalation," ministry spokesman Sinan Majali said in a statement.

He said the intrusion “represents a flagrant violation of international law, and of the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its holy sites.”

The status quo allows Muslims to worship at the Al-Aqsa complex and followers of other religions to visit the site.

“The continued breaches and attacks on Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, coupled with the unilateral measures of settlement expansion and the ongoing Israeli raids, may lead to further escalation,” Majali warned.

He called on the international community to take swift and decisive action to put an end to these practices.

The spokesman called on Israel, the occupying power, to immediately stop all practices and violations in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and all measures aimed at changing the existing historical and legal status quo at the holy site.

Qatar also condemned the Israeli minister’s storming the holy site.

“The attempts to harm the religious and historical status of Al-Aqsa Mosque are not only an attack on the Palestinians, but also on millions of Muslims around the world,” the Qatar Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It held Israel “solely responsible" for any eruption of violence as a result "from the reoccurring violations and storming of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the systematic escalatory policy against the Palestinian people, their land, and their Islamic and Christian sanctities."

Egypt also blasted Ben-Gvir's intrusion into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound as a "provocative behavior."

"Such provocative behavior is inconsistent with the wisdom and responsibility of officials," the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It called on Israel to immediately stop the escalating practices that fuel tensions in the Palestinian territories.

Since 2003, Israel has allowed settlers into the flashpoint compound almost on a daily basis with the exception of Fridays and Saturdays.

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