MALAYSIA condemns in the strongest terms the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli extremists on Sunday, who attacked Palestinian worshippers at one of the entrances to the mosque compound in East Jerusalem. 

Wisma Putra in a statement today said the assault against worshippers was an act of provocation and a flagrant violation of the sanctity of the holy site, clearly aimed at challenging the historical and legal status of Jerusalem and Al-Haram Al-Sharif. 

“Malaysia, therefore, calls on the United Nations Security Council to fulfill its mandated responsibility of holding the Israeli regime responsible for the continued acts of aggression against humanity and blatant disregard for countless principles of international law. 

“All acts of provocation and violence must be halted immediately in the interest of peace and security. There should be no disproportionate treatment in dealing with the conflict,” it said in a statement. 

“The international community cannot continue to disregard Israel’s continuous assaults and apartheid policy against the fundamental rights, lives, livelihood, and dignity of Palestinians of all faiths in their own land.” 

Malaysia stood firm by its principled position that Palestinians deserved their own independent and sovereign state based on the pre-1967 border with East Jerusalem as its capital, the statement added. 

Israeli security forces had ejected worshippers from the mosque and denied access to Palestinians below the age of 50 to clear the way for Israeli settlers on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, according to international media reports. 

Israeli settlers, accompanied and protected by intensified security forces, then made provocative incursions into the mosque. 

Many countries have condemned the provocative act including Saudi Arabia, which denounced the storming of the mosque by a group of extremists under the protection of Israeli occupation forces. – Bernama, September 20, 2023.