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NEW YORK: The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has called an emergency meeting to discuss Israel’s attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The United Arab Emirates and China have requested that the UN Security Council met behind closed doors.
On Tuesday night, Israeli forces stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, assaulting dozens of Palestinian worshippers.
The raid on Al-Aqsa began around 10 p.m. local time, when heavily armed police officers were first seen entering the site before firing tear gas and stun grenades into the Qibli prayer hall – the building with the silver dome – where hundreds of men, women, elderly people, and children had gathered to pray overnight.
The worshippers were forcibly removed from the location where they were peacefully observing Ramadan.
Outside of the last ten days of Ramadan, Israeli authorities prohibit I’tikaf at Al-Aqsa Mosque, a ban that Palestinians refuse to obey.
Israeli forces routinely clear the mosque of Palestinians outside of the five Muslim prayers, particularly overnight and after the dawn prayer, to ensure a smooth incursion of Israeli settlers, which occurs daily around 7:30 a.m. local time.
