Zaki: Closing Al-Aqsa Mosque is a blatant challenge to 1.5 billion Muslims and calls for urgent Arab and Islamic action

SadaNews - Abbas Zaki, a member of Fatah's Central Committee and head of the Jerusalem Committee in the Palestinian National Council, confirmed that the closure and restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation authorities on the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque represent a serious escalation and a blatant challenge to the feelings of over a billion and a half Muslims around the world, emphasizing that statements of condemnation and denunciation are no longer sufficient to deter these policies.

Zaki's statements came during his participation in an electronic parliamentary seminar organized by the "Parliamentarians for Jerusalem and Palestine" association, with the participation of several heads of Jerusalem committees in Arab and Islamic parliaments, where he reviewed the latest developments in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Zaki explained that the occupation authorities have transformed the city of Jerusalem into what resembles a military barracks, taking advantage of the current regional conditions, pointing to the expulsion of worshippers and those in spiritual retreat from Al-Aqsa Mosque under the pretext of preventing gatherings, while allowing settlers to storm its courtyards and reach the vicinity of the Dome of the Rock to perform Talmudic rituals.

He noted that the number of settlers who stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque at one time reached 4,882, in an unprecedented escalation, without the application of the law against gatherings, which they claimed to use to prevent Palestinians from practicing their rituals in Al-Aqsa Mosque. He confirmed that the occupation authorities also proceeded to completely close the mosque, prohibiting prayers, including Friday prayers, and preventing the commemoration of Laylat al-Qadr in a serious precedent since the occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967.

Zaki pointed out that the occupation forces detained and expelled several guards of Al-Aqsa Mosque belonging to the Islamic Waqf Department as part of a policy aimed at emptying the mosque of its guardians and visitors and imposing a new reality within it.

He reiterated that the continuation of these violations reflects the state of impotence experienced by the Arab and Islamic nations, considering that this reality has encouraged the occupation to persist in its measures against Jerusalem and its holy sites.

Zaki called on Arab and Islamic governments to take immediate action to support the people of Jerusalem on various levels, including financial, political, media, diplomatic, and legal support in order to enhance their resilience against Judaization policies.

He also demanded the transfer of the Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque issue to international forums, including the United Nations and the Security Council, and to work on convening an Arab-Islamic summit at the leaders' level to come up with practical decisions that match the magnitude of the challenges facing Al-Aqsa Mosque in light of what he described as ongoing attempts to alter the existing reality therein.

Zaki concluded his remarks by emphasizing that the protection of Al-Aqsa Mosque is a collective responsibility that requires serious and effective action that goes beyond mere condemnations to tangible steps on the ground.