Arab League Warns of Israel's Violations at Aqsa Compound

Israeli security forces stand guard as Palestinians take part in Friday prayers in occupied East Jerusalem. (Getty Images file photo)
Israeli security forces stand guard as Palestinians take part in Friday prayers in occupied East Jerusalem. (Getty Images file photo)
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Arab League Warns of Israel's Violations at Aqsa Compound

Israeli security forces stand guard as Palestinians take part in Friday prayers in occupied East Jerusalem. (Getty Images file photo)
Israeli security forces stand guard as Palestinians take part in Friday prayers in occupied East Jerusalem. (Getty Images file photo)

The Arab League vehemently condemned Israel's decision to build more than 800 settlement units in occupied East Jerusalem.

Assistant Secretary-General for Palestinian territories and occupied Arab Lands Saeed Abu Ali warned of the Israeli settlers’ storming of the al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem, which took place under the strict protection of Israeli forces.

The forces had also fired rubber bullets and gas bombs at worshippers at the holy site.

He condemned the development as a new escalation that demonstrates Israel’s intention to “Judaize” the al-Aqsa.

Abu Ali stated that Israel’s approval to build new units is a resumption of the settlement besieging the occupied East Jerusalem and the displacement of Palestinian families, stressing that such measures violate all international resolutions, laws and conventions.

He castigated the international community's silence and the US support for Israel as encouraging the latter to continue its aggression against the Palestinians. He stressed that attempts to impose a status quo will not deter the Palestinians' will to fight the occupation and build an independent Palestinian state.

The Palestinian cause was a priority at last week’s three Makkah summits, which underlined support for Palestinian rights.



Israeli Strikes Kill 12 in Gaza as War Grinds Into the New Year

A Palestinian child wounded during the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip receives treatment at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A Palestinian child wounded during the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip receives treatment at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Israeli Strikes Kill 12 in Gaza as War Grinds Into the New Year

A Palestinian child wounded during the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip receives treatment at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A Palestinian child wounded during the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip receives treatment at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli strikes killed at least 12 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, officials said Wednesday, as the nearly 15-month war ground on into the new year with no end in sight.

One strike hit a home in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza, the most isolated and heavily destroyed part of the territory, where Israel has been waging a major operation since early October, The Associated Press reported.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says seven people were killed, including a woman and four children, and that at least a dozen other people were wounded.
Another strike overnight into Wednesday in the built-up Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed a woman and a child, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.

A third strike early Wednesday in the southern city of Khan Younis killed three people, according to the nearby Nasser Hospital and the European Hospital, which received the bodies.
Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The war has caused widespread destruction and displaced some 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, many of them multiple times.
Hundreds of thousands are living in tents on the coast as winter brings frequent rainstorms and temperatures drop below 10 degrees Celsius at night. At least four infants have died of hypothermia.