Off the wire
• 21 hotels open in Portugal amid economic revival  • FTSE 100 drops by 0.54 pct ahead of Fed's decision  • Stockholm apartment prices hit record levels  • Vestas to launch giant onshore wind turbine  • Roundup: EU ministers agree to relocate 40,000 refugees  • Palestinians draft 1st state constitution  • Urgent: 1 dead after shooting reported at Mississippi campus  • Most Scots support Scottish ruling party in next parliamentary election: poll  • LME base metals prices slide on Monday  • Roundup: Refugee emergency puts debt-laden Greece under test  
You are here: 　 Home

Palestinians urge for Arab response to Al Aqsa Mosque threat

Xinhua, September 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

Palestinians urged Arabs Monday to take immediate, stern steps to protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound against Israeli practices, a senior official said.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Malki discounted an Arabic proposal to hold an "urgent" Arab League summit in the first half of 2016 to discuss growing threats from the changing of the status quo in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. However, he did not name the Arab country behind the proposal.

Speaking to the official Voice of Palestine Radio, al-Malki warned that the first half of 2016 will be too late.

Al-Malki announced that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) called for an "urgent and prompt" Arab summit at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) headquarters.

He added that the OIC will hold a meeting with foreign ministers towards the end of this month to concentrate on Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Riyad Mansour, Palestinian permanent observer at the United Nations, said that they are coordinating with Jordan, an Arab member at the UN's Security Council (UNSC), to meet with the UNSC president, Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin, and brief him on the situation in Jerusalem.

"We will ask him to deliberate with UNSC members to pressure Israel into stopping its violations, along with illegal provocations against Palestinians in Jerusalem, particularly in Holy sites," Mansour told a Palestinian radio.

Tensions flared up for the second day on Monday at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem.

Clashes broke out Sunday between Palestinian worshipers and Israeli police, when police forces entered the compound pursuing Palestinians who had earlier barricaded themselves in the mosque, throwing rocks and flares at police forces.

These confrontations coincide with the start of extended Jewish holidays which will continue until the beginning of October.

While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to protect the status quo in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Palestinians fear that growing numbers of settlers will "break in" the compound and escalate tensions at the Holy site.

Palestinians warned that Israel aims to impose physical and structural divisions upon the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the heart of the old city of Jerusalem. Endit