Qatar calls for immediate halt to Jewish settler raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry called on Tuesday for the international community to put an immediate stop to the repeated raids by Israeli Jewish settlers on Al-Aqsa Mosque, QNA has reported. A spokesperson for the ministry condemned the daily raids in the occupied holy city of Jerusalem, describing them as acts of “provocation” against millions of Muslims worldwide.

The statement followed raids on the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa by hundreds of extremist settlers on Sunday and Monday to mark the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. As usual in such incidents, the settlers were protected by a large Israeli police presence.

At the same time, an Israeli spokesperson said that the Israeli army secured the “visit” of 22,500 Israeli Jewish settlers to Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron. One of the oldest mosques in the city, it is the site of a massacre of Palestinian worshippers who were gunned down by a Jewish settler in February 1994.

Timeline: Israel’s attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque

Around 400 settlers also raided the city of Nablus and went to the “Tomb of Yusuf”, believed by Jews to be a site of religious significance. Palestinians insist that it is the tomb of a Muslim scholar.

Such raids take place throughout the year, local witnesses have reported, and not just during Jewish holiday periods.