Kuwaiti diplomat ‘condemns’ Israeli violations in Jerusalem
UN discusses developments in Mideast
NEW YORK, July 26, (Agencies): Kuwait utterly condemns the continuous Israeli violations against the Palestinian people, namely the recent obstructions set by Israel at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, said a Kuwaiti diplomat late Tuesday.
Speaking at a UNSC meeting on the developments in the Middle East and the situation in the Palestinian territories, Kuwait’s permanent delegate to the UN headquarters in New York Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi warned the international community about the ramifications of the Israeli steps in Jerusalem.
He stressed that Tel Aviv was aiming at turning the situation into a conflict with religious connotations.
Kuwait strongly condemns the Israeli violations which are against international laws and norms, said Al-Otaibi, adding that his country will stand oppose any illegal actions that Israel might be planning in the present and in the future.
He called on the international community and the UNSC to implement Resolutions 478 and 2334, which prohibits Israel from attempting to change the status of Jerusalem.
Worshipers have the right to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque and perform prayers there without any restrictions imposed by Israel, said the Kuwaiti diplomat.
Tel Aviv must stop its irrational behavior and prevent the situation from further escalating by lifting the unreasonable security measures around AlAqsa Mosque.
Alter
Ambassador Al-Otaibi indicated that Israel was trying to alter history and it was systematically destroying any chances for a two-state solution which will give Palestinians their independent country with East Jerusalem as its capital in accordance with the 1967 borders.
UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov has warned of wider unrest and said Tuesday that “we are not over this crisis yet”.
“I hope that the steps being taken by Israel will enable a return to relative calm, and we all hope this will happen in the next days,” he said.
The clock was ticking, with last week’s main weekly Muslim prayers on Friday having brought the situation to a boil.
Concerned with the potential for unrest, Israel barred men under 50 from entering Jerusalem’s Old City for prayers.
A tense standoff was underway between Israel and Muslim worshippers at a Jerusalem holy site Wednesday despite the removal of metal detectors, with concerns of major unrest later this week if a resolution is not found.
Muslims have refused to enter the site and have prayed in the streets outside for more than a week after Israel installed new security measures at the Haram al-Sharif compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
The measures followed an attack that killed two policemen and included metal detectors at entrances.
Move
Palestinians view the move as Israel asserting further control over the site, which houses the revered Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
Israeli authorities said the metal detectors were needed because the July 14 attackers smuggled guns into the site and emerged from it to attack the officers.
Protests and deadly unrest have erupted in the days since, with clashes breaking out around the compound in Jerusalem’s Old City and in the occupied West Bank, leaving five Palestinians dead.
A Palestinian also broke into a home in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank last week and stabbed four Israelis, killing three of them.
There are concerns the main weekly Muslim prayers on Friday -- which typically draw thousands to Al-Aqsa -- will lead to serious clashes between protesters and Israeli security forces.
Following intensive international diplomacy and warnings of the potential of wider unrest, Israel removed the metal detectors in the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday.
Cameras installed in the wake of the attack on the police were also removed.
But Israeli officials said they were to be replaced with “advanced technologies” -- widely believed to be smart cameras with facial recognition technology.