“Every year and with every Ramadan, the occupation authorities begin to stir up the feelings of Muslims by repeatedly storming Al-Aqsa Mosque,” the Qatar Press Center has said in a statement.
The Qatar Press Center has strongly denounced the Israeli occupation forces’ ongoing assaults against Palestinians and Islamic holy sites in occupied Jerusalem, which it said in a statement on Wednesday were occurring “amid international silence”.
The political protection that Israel enjoys on a global scale has allowed it to repeatedly avoid accountability and punishment, the center said.
The center condemned other crimes committed by the occupation forces against the civilian populace in occupied Palestinian territories, in addition to those committed by the occupation forces against defenceless worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque.
“The Qatari Press Center strongly condemns the continued practices of the Israeli occupation forces against our brothers and sisters in Palestine and Islamic holy sites, amidst international silence and global political cover, allowing the occupying state to escape punishment and evade its responsibilities every time,” the statement said.
“Yearly during Ramadan, we have become accustomed to the Israeli authorities provoking the sentiments of Muslims by repeatedly invading Al-Aqsa Mosque, resulting in attacks and crimes committed by the occupation forces against innocent worshipers in the holy mosque.”
Last Tuesday night in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli forces brutally attacked and forcibly removed dozens of Muslim worshippers from the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Hundreds of men, women, elderly people and children were staying overnight to pray at the Qibli prayer hall when dozens of heavily armed police officers stormed the area, used stun grenades and fired tear gas into the structure. Rubber-coated steel bullets were reportedly also fired, according to some witnesses.
Then, Israeli police beat worshippers with batons and riot guns, injuring many of them, before taking them into custody.
Israeli police can be seen in videos that circulated online repeatedly attacking people with batons while they appeared to be lying on the ground. In the background, women and children’s screams for help could be heard.
“Additionally, there are other crimes targeting civilian populations in Palestinian cities, with the latest being on Tuesday, 20 Ramadan 1444 AH, corresponding to 11 April 2023, resulting in dozens of Palestinians being choked during clashes with Israeli occupation forces in a camp in the occupied West Bank,” the statement said.
The occupation forces stormed the camp and fired rubber-coated metal bullets, sound bombs, and tear gas at citizens and their homes, igniting clashes in which dozens were suffocated. Additionally, settlers, protected by occupation forces, attacked a house in the town of Al-Khader, south of Bethlehem,” the statement added.
It also urged the world to step up and exert pressure on Israel, saying that the center “holds the international community responsible for pressuring the Israeli occupation authorities to stop such practices, which amount to war crimes and threaten the region and the world with insecurity and instability”.
