Abbas: Israeli actions at Al Aqsa Mosque ‘uncontrollable escalation’

Palestinian Muslim worshippers gather at the Dome of the Rock mosque in the al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem on April 8, 2022 [AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images]

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said that Israeli actions in Jerusalem, mainly at Al-Aqsa Mosque, will lead to “uncontrollable escalation,” Wafa news agency has reported.

“The threats by extremist Israelis to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City to slaughter sacrificial animals for the Jewish Passover holiday under the protection of the occupation police will lead to a dangerous and uncontrollable escalation,” his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh pointed out. “Meanwhile, Israel threatens to deploy more occupation forces in the Palestinian territories.”

Israel is carrying out war crimes against worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

The ongoing violation of the sanctity of the holy places is a major reason for the potential escalation in the region, added the senior PA official.

“The daily cold-blooded killings of Palestinians, the detentions, military incursions into Palestinian cities, villages and camps, and the Israeli government’s instructions to the occupation forces for an unrestrained ‘open fire’ policy against Palestinians will renew the cycle of violence.”

Such measures, said Abu Rudeineh, prove that the Israeli government is not interested in the success of regional and international efforts to prevent escalation and remove its causes so that the holy month of Ramadan goes smoothly and peacefully.

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“Moreover, Israel’s racist measures against Palestinian prisoners and the seizure of their allowances, along with the absence of a political horizon needs urgent international intervention, especially from the US administration. Such intervention is needed to stop the deterioration of the ongoing situation so that it does not lead to further escalation and violence in the region for which everyone will pay a price.”

The presidential spokesman concluded by saying that, “The only solution to these successive crises is to achieve a just peace based on UN resolutions, not through a policy of collective punishment, settlements, killing and desecration of Islamic and Christian holy sites.”

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