| At least 42 Palestinians wounded in violence at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound
By Makhdoom
Shehryar Babar
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Friday while expressing solidarity for the brave Palestinian people, reiterated support for the global pledge of an independent state of Palestine.
The prime minister, in his message on Al Quds Day observed annually on last Friday of Holy Ramazan, said the designation of the Day by Iran in 1979 was aimed at expressing Muslim Ummah’s support for the Palestinian people in their struggle for rights.
He said Jerusalem has been recognized as the capital of the Palestinian state where the Qibla-e-Awal was a source of peace for the Muslims.
Every year, on this day, Muslims strongly condemn the oppression of the Zionist forces, barbaric attacks and aggression by a Zionist state. Pakistan also joins the voices for justice and condemns the oppression of the Palestinian people, he added. The prime minister urged the international community to ensure the implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions and agreements on the two-state solution. He viewed that the enforcement of the UN Security Council resolutions against the illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir and Palestine by India and Israel respectively could bring about a durable peace in the region.
The prime minister also paid tribute the martyrs of the Kashmir and Palestine movements and prayed for the success of their decades old struggle.
PM’s response comse after at least 42 people were injured by Israeli police’s actions against Palestinians at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Friday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, following weeks of violence at the flashpoint site.
The unrest came on the final Friday in the Muslim holy month of Ramazan.
None of the injuries were serious, the Red Crescent said, adding that 22 people had been taken to hospital.
Israel’s police claimed forces entered the compound after “rioters” hurled stones and fireworks, including down towards the Western Wall, the sacred Jewish site below Al-Aqsa.
The statement said officers used “riot dispersal means” to contain the unrest. Witnesses said police fired tear gas and rubber bullets.
Police said three people had been arrested, two for throwing stones and one for “inciting the mob”.
“For the past hour, the site has been quiet and (Muslim) worshippers are safely entering (the compound)” police said.
But tensions remain high at the site in the heart of Jerusalem’s old, walled city, part of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
Over the past two weeks, nearly 300 Palestinians have been injured in violence at the Al-Aqsa compound, Islam’s third-holiest site which is the most holy site for Jews, who call it the Temple Mount.
Israel’s incursions into the site during Ramazan have raised global concern, but the Jewish state has insisted it was compelled to act against operatives from the groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad who were seeking to spark widespread unrest across Jerusalem.
In an apparent attempt to ease tensions, Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has stressed that the government was committed to the status quo at the compound, meaning an adherence to long-standing convention that only Muslims are allowed to pray there.
Jews are allowed to visit the Temple Mount. Muslim leaders have, however, been angered by a recent uptick in such visits. Some voiced fears that Israel was seeking to divide the compound and create a space where Jews may worship. Lapid told journalists that no such plan exists.
Violence in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem has raised fears of another armed conflict similar to an 11-day war last year between Israel and the group Hamas, triggered by similar unrest at Al-Aqsa.
Recent weeks have seen isolated rocket fire from Gaza towards Israel and Israeli reprisals, but no casualties reported on either side.
The Al-Aqsa tensions have come against a backdrop of violence since March 22 in Israel and the occupied West Bank.
Twelve Israelis, including an Arab-Israeli police officer, and two Ukrainians were killed in four separate attacks inside Israel. Two of the deadly attacks were carried out in the Tel Aviv area by Palestinians.
A total of 26 Palestinians and three Israeli Arabs have died during the same period, among them perpetrators of attacks and those killed by Israeli security forces in West Bank operations.
Meanwhile, former prime minister and PTI chairman Imran Khan expressed solidarity with the Palestinians against the violence and oppression by Israeli forces.
In his message on Al Quds Day — marked as a protest against the creation of Israel and occupation of Jerusalem — Imran pointed out that every Ramazan, Muslims witnessed condemnable attacks by Israeli forces against worshippers in Al-Aqsa mosque.
