Algeria Strongly Condemns the Crimes of Occupation in Al-Aqsa Mosque

In the strongest terms, Algeria condemned, on Wednesday, in a statement by the Presidency of the Republic, the Zionist entity’s occupation forces who stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, and their repeated attacks on worshipers.

The presidential statement considered that these “brutal criminal practices represent a blatant encroachment on the holy places and a flagrant violation of all international laws and norms.”

“Algeria calls on the international community, especially the UN Security Council, to assume its responsibilities to put an end to these criminal practices, which constitute a dangerous escalation and inflame the feelings of all Muslims,” the statement added.

The statement also renewed “Algeria’s firm position in support of the just Palestinian cause and the right of the brotherly Palestinian people to establish their independent state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

Zionist entity’s police stormed the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, one of Islam’s holiest sites, during Ramadan prayers early Wednesday, arresting hundreds of Palestinians and sparking retaliatory rocket fire from militants in Gaza.

At least 400 Palestinians were arrested on Wednesday and remain in Israeli custody, according to Palestinian officials. They are being held at a police station in Atarot in occupied East Jerusalem.

“We were conducting i’tikaf [Muslim religious worship] at Al-Aqsa because it’s Ramadan,” said Bakr Owais, a 24-year-old student who was detained. “The army broke the upper windows of the mosque and began throwing stun grenades at us …They made us lay on the ground and they handcuffed us one by one and took us all out. They kept swearing at us during this time. It was very barbaric.”

“I was sitting on a chair reciting [the Quran],” an elderly woman told the Reuters news agency while sitting outside the mosque, struggling to catch her breath. “They hurled stun grenades, one of them hit my chest,” she said as she began to cry.

Footage shared on social media showed Israeli officers striking screaming people with batons inside the darkened building. Eyewitnesses told international media that police had smashed doors and windows to enter the mosque and deployed stun grenades and rubber bullets once inside.

The Palestinian Red Crescent in Jerusalem said at least 12 people were injured during clashes in and around the mosque, and at least three of the injured were transferred to hospital, some with injuries from rubber bullets.

The Red Crescent added that at one point its ambulances were targeted by police and were prevented from reaching the injured.

The incident drew condemnation from across the Arab and Muslim world. Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the Israeli police actions “in the strongest terms,” and called on Israel to immediately remove its forces from the mosque. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the “storming” of the mosque by police, saying it had caused “numerous injuries among worshipers and devotees” and was “in violation of all international laws and customs.”

Images shared on social media showed dozens of detained people lying facedown on the floor of the mosque with their legs and arms bound behind their backs, and others with their hands tied being led into a vehicle.

Al-Aqsa has seen hundreds of thousands of worshipers offer prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan this year. Jews are set to celebrate Passover on Wednesday evening.

Over the last two weeks, there have been calls by Jewish extremist groups to slaughter goats at the mosque compound as part of an ancient Passover holiday ritual that is no longer practised by most Jews. A greater number of Muslim worshipers stayed in the mosque after calls came to prevent those attempts.

Last week, a 26-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Al-Osaibi was shot and killed by Israeli police at the entrance of the compound.

The mosque compound, frequently a flashpoint in tensions, is home to one of Islam’s most revered sites.

In a statement Wednesday, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh condemned the actions of the Israeli police, saying: “What is happening in Jerusalem is a major crime against worshipers.”

“Israel does not want to learn from history, that al-Aqsa is for the Palestinians and all Arabs and Muslims, and that storming it sparked a revolution against the occupation,” Shtayyeh added.

Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas said in a statement that “the current Israeli occupation’s crimes at the al-Aqsa mosque are unprecedented violations that will not pass.”

This year has seen a violent beginning, too. At least 90 Palestinians have been killed, according to Palestinian Ministry of Health statistics.

The Arab League is set to hold an emergency meeting to discuss an Israeli police raid on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem that left at least 12 Palestinians injured, as the zionist entity’s Prime Minister said he was working to “maintain the status quo” at the holy site.

The Arab League meeting was called by Jordan, Egypt and Palestinian officials, with tensions remaining high in Jerusalem since Israeli police attacked worshippers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound overnight on Wednesday, during the holy month of Ramadan.

The League had earlier condemned the attack, with Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit saying in a statement: “The extremist approaches that control the policy of the Israeli government will lead to widespread confrontations with the Palestinians if they are not put to an end.”