Egypt warned that repeated Israeli incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque “aim to change the status quo and impose a new reality within the holy site.” In a Foreign Ministry statement on Thursday, Egypt condemned the entry of hundreds of Israeli settlers into the mosque and the accompanying provocative acts and religious rituals in its courtyards, saying they violated its historical and legal status quo. Egypt stressed the need to preserve the historical and legal status of Jerusalem’s holy sites and protect Al-Aqsa Mosque’s religious standing. It said maintaining existing arrangements governing the holy sites was crucial to preventing escalation, warning that repeated violations were fueling tensions. Cairo said “these practices are part of a systematic policy that evades all forms of deterrence or accountability,” warning of consequences for security and stability in the occupied Palestinian territories and across the region. The Arab League on Thursday condemned the entry of more than 1,300 Israeli settlers into Al-Aqsa Mosque on the fifth day of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. It also condemned the accompanying public religious rituals and prayers in the mosque’s courtyards under Israeli police protection, as well as restrictions on Palestinian worshippers and obstruction of their access. It said: “The growing scale and frequency of these incursions, and the accompanying attempts to impose religious rituals inside the mosque, constitute a flagrant assault on its sanctity and a systematic effort to change its historical and legal status quo, imposing facts on the ground that pave the way for dividing it by time and space.”
