The Arab League has condemned Israeli far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s incursion into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Thursday alongside a group of settlers.
In a statement, the Secretary-General of the regional bloc, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, described the incursion as a blatant provocation aimed at inflaming sentiments and escalating tensions.
He noted that the entry of the extremist minister under the protection of Israeli police reflects the nature of the Israeli government's extremist agenda, which opposes peaceful coexistence.
Aboul Gheit stressed that the continued violation of the historical status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque by the Israeli government offends the sentiments of two billion Muslims worldwide.
He added that through such unacceptable and condemnable policies, Israel is deliberately undermining all prospects for peaceful coexistence among religions in the region.
The far-right Israeli National Security Minister said he would build a Jewish synagogue at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem. The Israeli government has had a longstanding ban on Jews praying at the holy site, a directive largely ignored by the minster and his supporters.
Since taking office in 2022, the minister has visited the Al-Aqsa site at least six times, prompting widespread condemnation by Arab and Western nations, as well as Orthodox Jews and some Israeli officials.
At least one person was killed and 10 injured, including three children, in overnight drone attacks by Russia on Ukraine, officials said on Wednesday. Various attacks also damaged energy facilities in two regions, according to the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Israel announced a major expansion of military operations in Gaza on Wednesday, saying large areas of the enclave would be seized and added to its security zones, accompanied by large-scale evacuation of population.
A fourth US Army soldier, who together with three others went missing in Lithuania last week when their vehicle sank in a peat bog, has been found dead, US and Lithuanian officials said on Tuesday.
The United Nations on Tuesday dismissed as "ridiculous" an assertion by Israel that there was enough food in the Gaza Strip to last for a long period of time, despite the closure of all 25 bakeries supported by the World Food Programme (WFP).
United Nations officials who surveyed earthquake damage in Myanmar urged the global community to ramp up aid before the looming monsoon season worsens already catastrophic conditions, with the death toll at 2,719 and expected to surpass 3,000.