Arab Parliament Speaker Mohamed bin Ahmed Al Yamahi has strongly condemned the dangerous and ongoing Israeli escalation in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and in the West Bank, warning of the consequences of the occupation’s continued efforts to create new realities aimed at changing the existing historical and legal status quo of the holy sites.
In a statement issued on Monday, Al Yamahi condemned attempts to bring prayer books and Jewish religious rituals into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, as well as the tightening of restrictions and closures imposed on Palestinians in the West Bank. He said these practices constitute a systematic escalation and a blatant violation of the sanctity of the holy sites and the rights of the Palestinian people, as well as a dangerous attempt to impose a new reality by force.
The Arab Parliament speaker also strongly condemned inflammatory statements by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, in which he called for waging a war on the West Bank, repeating what happened in the Gaza Strip and dismantling the Palestinian Authority. He said the statements constitute an explicit call to expand the scope of aggression and destruction and a direct threat to trigger a dangerous escalation in the West Bank and undermine the foundations of stability there.
Al Yamahi warned that turning the West Bank into another version of the Gaza Strip would have catastrophic consequences for the Palestinian people and the entire region. He stressed that attempts to storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and change its identity and historical and legal status quo, alongside targeting the West Bank and its national institutions, require urgent and decisive international action before the situation gets out of control.
He called on the international community and the United Nations Security Council to assume their responsibilities, compel the occupation forces to halt these violations and escalation, protect the Palestinian people and their holy sites, and hold those responsible for incitement and attacks accountable. He stressed that international silence over these policies encourages their continuation and undermines prospects for achieving peace and stability in the region.
