PM Sharif condemns storming of Al-Aqsa mosque by Israeli ministers, settlers

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has unequivocally condemned the recent act of storming of Al-Aqsa mosque by Israeli ministers accompanied by settler groups and shielded by Israeli police.

In a post on his X handle, he said this sacrilege against one of Islam’s holiest sites is not only an affront to the faith of over a billion Muslims but also a direct assault on international law and the collective conscience of humanity.

Such systematic provocations by the occupying power, coupled with reckless calls for annexation, imperil the prospects for peace.

The prime minister said Israel’s shameless actions are deliberately inflaming tensions in Palestine and the wider region, pushing the Middle East closer to further instability and conflict.

Shehbaz Sharif reiterated Pakistan’s urgent call for an immediate ceasefire, an end to all acts of aggression, and the revival of a credible peace process leading to an independent and viable State of Palestine, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, in accordance with international law and relevant UN resolutions.

Read more: Israel’s Ben-Gvir says he prayed at Al-Aqsa mosque compound

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem on Sunday and said he prayed there, challenging rules covering one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East.

Under a delicate decades-old “status quo” arrangement with Muslim authorities, the Al-Aqsa compound is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation and Jews can visit but may not pray there.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement after Ben-Gvir’s visit that Israel’s policy of maintaining the status quo at the compound “has not changed and will not change”.