JEDDAH: Foreign ministers of the Arab nations on Saturday condemned Israeli atrocities in Jerusalem and the West Bank that they said had been undermining efforts to achieve a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A statement issued by the Saudi Foreign Affairs Ministry said the ministers also lamented that “illegal Israeli practices” were “undermining chances of achieving a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution, which embodies the independent and sovereign Palestinian state with its capital.”
International and Palestinian human rights organizations had previously condemned the increasingly aggressive Israeli settler land-grabs in the Palestinian territories in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The statement came as a consultative meeting of Arab foreign ministers from GCC members states along with Jordan, Egypt and Iraq concluded. Arab News reported that the informal consultation session was held in Jeddah during a Suhoor dinner hosted by Kingdom’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.
The ministers took up the issue of frequent Israeli attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque and Al-Haram Al-Sharif and “violation of the sanctity of the holy places”, especially at a time when Muslims gathered there for prayers during the holy month of Ramadan.
The Arab nations reminded Israel of “the need to respect the historical and legal situation existing therein,” noting that it is Jordan’s Jerusalem Endowments and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs that is “empowered with exclusive jurisdiction to manage the affairs of the mosque and regulate access to it.”
