The General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) strongly condemned the Israeli occupation forces’ storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the blatant assault on worshipers and the arrest of a number of them, and the closure of the Ibrahimi Mosque in the southern West Bank occupied city of Hebron. The OIC General Secretariat said in a statement that ‘it considers this an extension of the repeated violations of Israel, the occupying power, of the sanctity of the holy places and freedom of worship, and a blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions and international law.’ In order to secure free access for Jewish extremists to the two Muslim holy mosques in Jerusalem and Hebron, the Israeli occupation forces blocked entry of Muslims into these two sites, at times attacking and forcibly removing worshippers from Al-Aqsa Mosque. Jewish extremists have intensified their storming of Al-Aqsa as they celebrated their Sukkot holiday, which continues through the weekend, and held religio
us rituals in violation of the existing decades-long status quo that consider it a purely Muslim worship site. ‘The OIC holds the Israeli occupation government fully responsible for the consequences of the continuation of these crimes and systematic attacks that fuel violence, tension, and instability in the region, calling at the same time on the international community to assume its responsibilities to put an end to these serious violations, stressing the necessity of preserving the historical and legal status of the Islamic and Christian holy sites in the occupied city of Al-Quds (Jerusalem),’ concluded OIC statement.
Source: Palestine news and Information Agency – WAFA