States that have normalized relations with Israel should immediately recall their ambassadors because of its actions with regard to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas' political bureau, said on Thursday, according to the Quds Press news portal.
"I say to the occupiers: if you think that storming al-Aqsa will change its Islamic character, you are mistaken," he pointed out. - "What is happening around the blessed mosque demands that countries that have normalized relations with the occupiers immediately recall their ambassadors from this entity" (Israel - TASS). He did not specify which countries he was referring to. Palestinians in this context most often refer to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which signed the Abrahamic Accords in Washington on September 15, 2020, with the active mediation of the US, to normalize relations with Israel. Sudan and Morocco later announced the same.
The situation in East Jerusalem escalated on April 15 after a group of Jewish pilgrims visited the Temple Mount. Israeli police dispersed Arab protesters and detained dozens of people. Some 170 Palestinians and eight Israelis were injured at the time. The imam of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Akram Sabri, blamed Jewish settlers for the clashes. On Thursday, Israeli security forces re-entered the Islamic shrine and set up checkpoints in the Old City and near the gate leading to the mosque. There were also casualties in clashes with police.
Against this background, the situation around the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip remains turbulent. The night before, Palestinian groups there fired a missile at Israel, which was intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system and landed near the city of Sderot, causing damage. Israeli fighter jets responded with a series of strikes against the coastal enclave on Thursday night, and the Palestinians fired more rockets, which had already been destroyed by the air defense forces.
This exchange of strikes was the most serious since the cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian radicals, who had been in armed confrontation for 11 days prior, came into effect on May 21, 2021. At that time, another round of tension was also triggered by riots at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which began because of an Israeli court decision to seize homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood from Arab families living there. During that time, 257 residents of the Strip and 13 on the Israeli side were killed.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Zuma\TASS
Based on materials from TASS