Repeated violations in Al-Aqsa Mosque impacting whole region: Qatar's Foreign Ministry

Doha [Qatar], April 14 : Advisor to the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and official spokesperson for Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Majed bin Mohammad Al Ansari said that serious and repeated violations of "Israeli entity" in Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and the ongoing escalation in the Palestinian territories showcase a dangerous development impacting the whole region, Qatar News Agency reported.

Addressing a Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs weekly media briefing on Tuesday, Majed bin Mohammad Al Ansari said that Al-Aqsa is a Mosque and attempts to change it cannot be accepted and are a violation of all relevant international laws and decisions, as per the news report.

He urged the international community to assume its responsibility towards protecting the rights of the Palestinians. Speaking at the media briefing, he said that Qatar's stance on the majority of issues has been to reduce escalation by communicating with various authorities and parties to ensure the protection of the lives of people, as per the Qatar News Agency report.

Majed bin Mohammad Al Ansari said that Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had issued a strongly worded statement after the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque on Wednesday condemning in the strongest terms these violations that provoked more than two billion Muslims during Ramzan.

He further said the Ministry again issued a statement on Friday holding Israel solely responsible for the violence in the region and its blatant violations in Gaza and southern Lebanon, Qatar News Agency reported.

Earlier this month, Israeli forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque, as they fired grenades and tear gas at Palestinian worshippers in a raid. Dozens of worshippers who were spending the night praying were injured in the police raid at dawn, Al Jazeera reported citing Palestinian news agency Wafa.

In the media briefing, Al Ansari said that Qatar's Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al Khulaifi's visit to Lebanon is aimed to explore and support reaching an agreement in Lebanon, reconciling the political parties and reaching a consensus to get the country out of its current crisis.

As per the Qatar News Agency report, he further said that Qatar backs the Lebanese-Lebanese consensus to select a presidential candidate and seeks to contribute to addressing the crisis by achieving intra-Lebanese consensus while standing at the same distance from everyone.