Amid the ongoing war with Iran, Israel has closed Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest mosques of Muslims, for the last 16 days. There is huge resentment among the Muslim countries of the world due to this action of Israel in the month of Ramadan. The Arab League, a group of Arab countries, on Sunday strongly condemned Israel’s decision to close the Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan.
The Arab League said that Israel has no right to stop Muslims from worshiping there. In a statement, the group of Arab countries said that this step is a flagrant violation of international law. The statement said that this action of Israel can have a serious impact on regional and global peace and security.
The Arab League also appealed to the international community to put pressure on Israel to stop its alleged illegal actions at the holy sites of Jerusalem. The Arab League said that the countries of the world should ensure respect for freedom of worship.
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Israel has closed Al-Aqsa Mosque amid war with Iran.
This statement of the Arab League has come at a time when Israel has kept the Al-Aqsa Mosque located in occupied East Jerusalem closed since the start of the US-Israel war against Iran on February 28. At the same time, only about 50 worshipers are being allowed to worship in the Ibrahimi Mosque in the occupied West Bank.
This closure has been going on for 16-17 days so far. This is considered to be the longest closure during Ramadan since Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967.
Israel argues that it has imposed the ban due to security reasons and regional war (ongoing conflict with Iran). He says that there may be a threat of missile attacks from Iran.
Due to this closure, the Al-Aqsa compound is lying empty, and thousands of Palestinian Muslims have to offer prayers in the streets and around the walls of the Old City. The closure of mosques in the last ten days of Ramadan (which includes Laylatul Qadr) and prayers like Itikaf have been affected.
Muslim organizations and Islamic countries condemned Israel
Apart from the Arab League, many other organizations and countries have also strongly condemned it. Eight Arab-Islamic countries, namely Qatar, Jordan, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, have jointly condemned the closure of the mosque.
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Muslim World League (MWL), Al-Azhar, African Union and Arab Parliament also called it a violation of international law and an attack on freedom of worship.
The Palestinian Authority called it the longest captivity since 1967 and described it as a dangerous example. Hamas called this step akin to a ‘declaration of war’.
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