State Department Spokesperson Vedant Patel reacting to Al-Aqsa Mosque raids conducted by Israeli forces in the holy month of Ramadan expressed concerns and said US stand firmly for preservation of the historic status quo at holy sites in Palestine.
Mr Vedant took to Twitter and penned “We are concerned by the scenes in Jerusalem and rockets fired by terrorists from Gaza.”
Read more: Israel strikes Lebanon, Gaza after rocket salvo from Lebanese soil
The spokesperson added the United States stands firmly for the preservation of the historic status quo at holy sites in Jerusalem.
“US calls for restraint, coordination, and calm during the holiday season,” said Mr Patel.
In one of his statements, Patel said the Biden administration is in regular touch with Israeli partners and the Palestinian authority.
“I did not have a specific engagement between US and Israeli officials to talk about the Al Aqsa raid,” added spox.
Meanwhile, Pakistan strongly condemned the recent Israeli attacks on Al Aqsa mosque. The National Assembly passed a resolution stating that the attacks on women and children are a gross violation of human rights. It said the attacks have hurt the sentiments of Muslims around the world, urging the international community, inc¬lu¬ding human rights organisations, to break silence on this violence.
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The Israeli police attacked dozens of worshippers in Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound which left several people injured, Al Jazeera reported citing witnesses.
The Israeli police claimed they raided the compound in response to “rioting” on Wednesday before dawn.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, injuries were reported as a result of the raid but it was not elaborated on how many were hurt. It also said that medics were prevented from reaching the mosque by the Israeli forces.
“I was sitting on a chair reciting (Qur’an),” said an elderly woman while talking to Reuters while sitting outside the mosque. “They hurled stun grenades, one of them hit my chest,” she said as she began to cry.
The Israeli police claimed in a statement that they had to enter the mosque after “masked agitators” locked themselves inside with fireworks, sticks and stones.
“When the police entered, stones were thrown at them and fireworks were fired from inside the mosque by a large group of agitators,” the statement said, adding that one of the police officers was wounded in the leg.
The latest attack has been condemned by the Palestinian groups which they describe as a crime.
“We warn the occupation against crossing red lines at holy sites, which will lead to a big explosion,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Jordan and Egypt have issued different statements on the recent attack, with the former condemning Israel’s “flagrant” storming of the compound and the latter calling for an immediate stop to the “blatant assault” on worshippers.
