Palestinians react as Israeli police fire stun grenades during clashes at the compound that houses Al-Aqsa Mosque, known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, amid tension over the possible eviction of several Palestinian families from homes on land claimed by Jewish settlers in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, in Jerusalem's Old City, May 7, 2021. REUTERS
The United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Saturday denounced Israel’s plans to evict Palestinians from homes on land claimed by Jewish settlers, following a night of violence in Jerusalem.
Israeli police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets towards rock-hurling Palestinian youth at Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem late on Friday.
The clashes that took place at Islam’s third holiest site and around East Jerusalem, which wounded 205 Palestinians and 17 police officers, came amid growing anger over the planned evictions.
In a statement carried on Saudi-owned Al Arabiya, the kingdom’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said “Saudi Arabia rejects Israel’s plans and measures to evict dozens of Palestinians from their homes in Jerusalem and impose Israeli sovereignty over them.”
The United Arab Emirates, which normalized relations with Israel last year, “strongly denounced” the clashes and the potential evictions, in a statement by the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khalifa al-Marar, carried by state news agency WAM.
In the statement, the UAE called on Israeli authorities to reduce tensions, and Marar stressed “the need for Israeli authorities to assume their responsibilities – in line with international law – to provide necessary protection to Palestinian civilians’ right to practice their religion, and to prevent practices that violate the sanctity of the Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
