Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia has condemned on Tuesday the provocative practices carried out by an Israeli official who stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Foreign Ministry expressed in a statement the Kingdom’s regret over the practices of the Israeli occupation authorities that undermine international peace efforts, and contradict international principles and norms regarding respect for religious sanctities.

The Ministry has renewed Saudi Arabia’s firm position to stand alongside the Palestinian people, and to support all the efforts that aims to end the occupation and reach a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue, which would enable the Palestinian people to establish their independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

It is noteworthy that Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir entered on Tuesday, under heavy security, the compound in occupied East Jerusalem, in a move that threatens a backlash from Palestinians.

“Our government will not surrender to the threats of Hamas,” Ben-Gvir said in a statement published by his spokesman, after the Palestinian group that governs the besieged Gaza Strip warned that such a move would cross a “red line”.