Arab League warns Israel acts might lead to a ‘religious war’
CAIRO, Jan 14, (Agencies): The Arab League on Wednesday decried Israel’s continuing desecration of sacred sites in the occupied territories warning such an approach might lead to triggering “a religious war” in the Middle East.
The league assistant secretary general, Ambassador Said Abu Ali, in a statement called on the “international community to intervene immediately and compel the occupation authority stop the ongoing violations.”
The international community should not be complacent and limit its response to statements and condemnation without taking action to coerce the Israeli occupation halt the grave breaches and desecrations against the sanctities, he said.
Israel has recently appeared racing with time and hectic, Ambassador Abu Ali said, alluding to further settlement schemes, increasing and rapid acts of judaization affecting various occupied regions.
The Israeli occupation authority, a few days ago, issued a decision to build 850 settlement units, and “today it decided to construct 550 more units in the areas around the occupied Jerusalem,” he said.
Last week, the Israelis ravaged agricultural areas in Silvit, uprooting more than 3,000 olive trees, as a prelude to seize these Palestinian territories and build settlements on them, added that league chief assistant.
Moreover, the occupation authorities have totally blockaded Al-Ibrahimi Mosque for ten days, trying to control this sacred site and have allowed settlers to desecrate Al-Aqsa mosque and hold prayers there.
Furthermore, a group of ultraradical groups have asked the occupation government to dismantle the dome of the rock for establishing their alleged temple, explicitly demonstration their intention to demolish Al-Aqsa Mosque.
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JERUSALEM: Jerusalem municipal authorities said Wednesday they have given preliminary approval to a location for a new U.S. Embassy in the city.
In a statement on Twitter, Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum said the city’s building and planning committee approved the plans. She told The Associated Press that another committee must still grant approval, which she expects to happen in the coming weeks.
The location is on the city’s Hebron Road, a central thoroughfare, and not far from the current temporary embassy. The site is near an invisible line that divides west and east Jerusalem, the part of the city captured in the 1967 Mideast war and claimed by the Palestinians for a future capital. It was not immediately clear if it crosses the boundary.
In a controversial move, the outgoing Trump administration recognized contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city in 2018. It was one of a string of diplomatic gifts delivered by President Donald Trump to Israel.
President-elect Joe Biden is expected to take a more balanced approach toward Israel and the Palestinians, but he has said he does not plan on moving the embassy back to Tel Aviv.