The Palestinian presidency said attacks by Israeli settlers and the occupation forces against worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque amount to a “declaration of war.”
The international community should intervene immediately to “stop the Israeli aggression against Al-Aqsa mosque and prevent things from going out of control,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
At least 152 Palestinians were injured during clashes with Israeli riot police inside Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Friday in the latest outbreak amid an upsurge of violence that has raised fears of a wider conflict.
The Palestine Red Crescent said most people were injured by rubber bullets, Israeli police batons and stun grenades at al-Aqsa mosque.
The attacks sparked Arab and Islamic condemnation.
Saudi Arabia issued a statement Friday denouncing the Israeli forces for raiding Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound and attacking Palestinian worshippers.
“This systematic escalation is a blatant attack on the sanctity of the Mosque and its significance to the Islamic nation and a violation of relevant international resolutions and covenants,” read a statement by the Saudi Foreign Ministry.
The Kingdom called on the international community to assume its responsibility in holding the Israeli occupation forces fully responsible for the repercussions of these ongoing crimes and violations on the defenseless Palestinian people, their land and their holy sites, and on the chances of reviving the peace process in the Middle East,” the statement added.
The Secretariat General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), for its part, deemed the developments a dangerous escalation, an attack against the entire Islamic nation and a flagrant violation of the international resolutions and charters.
It held Israel responsible for the repercussions of such daily crimes and offenses against the Palestinian people and their territories.
Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Dr. Nayef al-Hajraf said Israel should respect the historical and legal status quo in occupied Jerusalem and its sanctities and halt all illegal acts.
He called on the international community to assume its responsibilities to preserve the safety of Al-Aqsa Mosque and worshipers, underlining the importance of Israel’s abidance by its obligations as an occupying power, in accordance with international humanitarian law.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Hafez issued a statement calling for self-restraint to fully protect the Muslim worshippers and allow them to perform their Islamic rituals at Al-Aqsa Mosque as a “a purely Islamic endowment for Muslims.”
He reiterated rejection of all forms of violence and incitement, including the calls for storming the mosque during the holy month of Ramadan, and warned against the consequences of this attack on the stability and security of the Palestinian territories and the region.
For his part, Arab Parliament Speaker Adel bin Abdulrahman al-Assoumi said Israel’s attacks are provocative and considered a blatant violation of the basic human rights advocated by the international community, its states and institutions.
He called for a decisive international position to end the Israeli violations against the Palestinian people.
