Doha - Media & Communication Dept. - 03 January

The State of Qatar condemns in the strongest terms the Israeli Minister of National Security's storming of the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of the Israeli occupation authorities. It considers this act a flagrant violation of international law and the Hashemite Custodianship over the holy sites in occupied Jerusalem.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs warns of the escalatory policy adopted by the Israeli government in the occupied Palestinian territories. The Ministry also affirms that attempts to harm the religious and historical status of Al-Aqsa Mosque are not only an attack on the Palestinians, but also on millions of Muslims around the world.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs holds the Israeli occupation authorities solely responsible for the cycle of violence that will result from this systematic escalatory policy against the Palestinian people and their Islamic and Christian lands and sanctities. The Ministry urges the international community to take urgent action to stop these attacks.

The Ministry reiterates the firm position of the State of Qatar on the justice of the Palestinian cause, the legitimate rights of the brotherly Palestinian people, and the establishment of their independent state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.