JERUSALEM: This morning, Israeli occupation forces blocked the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) teams from entering the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem to provide medical services to worshippers on the first Friday prayer of the holy month of Ramadan.
The PRCS said in a press statement that Israeli occupation forces further prevented its teams from bringing in their equipment and setting up their medical stations in the courtyards of the mosque, a practice that it has observed annually during Ramadan.
The Red Crescent added that the Ministry of Awqaf and the International Committee of the Red Cross attempted to intervene to allow the PRSC to bring in its necessary equipment and complete its preparations to receive worshippers and provide humanitarian and medical services.
However, all these attempts failed due to the refusal of the Israeli occupation authorities to allow the Society’s teams to carry out their humanitarian work as usual during the holy month.
The occupation fo
rces also prevented PRCS ambulance crews from being present at the Israeli military checkpoint of Al-Zaytouna, east of occupied Jerusalem, and providing medical services to worshippers heading to the holy city through this checkpoint.
The Society considered this prevention a serious precedent aimed at blocking its ambulance teams from operating within East Jerusalem, which, according to all international agreements, is considered part of the occupied Palestinian territory. The Society reaffirmed that it is responsible for providing medical and humanitarian services within the geographic scope of occupied Jerusalem.
The Society emphasized that there is an international agreement allowing its ambulance teams to provide humanitarian services in occupied Jerusalem, and the prevention of its teams from carrying out their humanitarian work constitutes a blatant violation of international humanitarian law.
The PRCS stated that preventing its teams from working in the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, as is custom
ary every year during Ramadan, poses a danger to the safety of the large numbers of worshippers, especially on Fridays for prayer.
Furthermore, the Society noted that this Israeli measure also affected all ambulance crews affiliated with other medical institutions in Jerusalem.
Source: Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA