Cairo, Oct 8 (Petra) – The Arab League on Wednesday condemned the storming of Al Aqsa Mosque by Israeli settlers, led by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, under heavy protection by Israeli occupation forces.

A statement by the league's General Secretariat called the incursion a "dangerous escalation" and said it is part of a broader, systematic Israeli policy aimed at imposing a temporal and spatial division of the compound, one of Islam's holiest shrines.

"The move is a blatant assault on the religious sentiments of millions of Muslims around the world and an attempt to impose a new status quo in occupied Jerusalem by force," it added.

The pan-Arab organization warned of "potentially explosive consequences of such provocations," which came amid continued Israeli military operations in Gaza and a rising wave of violence in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Reaffirming the legal status of Jerusalem under international law, the Arab League reiterated that Jerusalem, including its Islamic and Christian holy sites, is occupied territory.

It said Israel has no sovereignty over Jerusalem, and urged the international community, including the UN and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, to uphold their legal and moral responsibilities and intervene to halt Israeli violations and protect religious sites from ongoing attacks.

//Petra// AK