ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has condemned attack on Palestinian worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli forces that left over 150 injured while hundreds were detained.
Foreign Office spokesperson said, “this highly condemnable assault on worshippers, especially during the holy month of Ramadan, is an egregious violation of all humanitarian norms and human rights laws.”
In recent weeks, Israeli forces killed dozens and injured countless Palestinians in the occupied East Jerusalem and other areas, he said, adding this escalation of violence by Israeli forces in the Palestinian territories is deplorable.
He called upon the international community to take urgent steps to protect innocent Palestinian lives, and uphold international law and principles of the UN Charter.
The spokesperson reaffirmed Pakistan’s consistent and unstinted support for the Palestinian cause. “We support the Palestinian people for the realization of their right to self-determination and other fundamental rights as well as a two-State solution, in accordance with 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,” he added.
Attack on worshippers
At least 152 Palestinians were injured on Friday in clashes with Israeli riot police inside Al-Aqsa mosque compound. Most of the Palestinian injuries were incurred by rubber bullets, stun grenades and beatings with police batons, the Palestine Red Crescent said.
In a statement, Israeli police said hundreds of Palestinians hurled firecrackers and stones at their forces and toward the nearby Jewish prayer area of the Western Wall in the Old City after Ramazan morning prayers.
It said police then entered the Al-Aqsa compound to “disperse and push back (the crowd and) enable the rest of the worshippers to leave the place safely”, adding that three officers were injured in the clashes.
Police detained hundreds of Palestinians, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry, referring to the Al-Aqsa violence, said it “holds Israel fully and directly responsible for this crime and its consequences”.
“Immediate intervention by the international community is needed to stop Israeli aggression against Al-Aqsa mosque and prevent things from going out of control,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who governs self-ruled areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
