CAIRO, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Ghiet condemned on Wednesday Israel's violations and escalation in East Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa Mosque.
In a press statement, Aboul-Ghiet strongly slammed the Israeli authorities' violent acts against Palestinians in East Jerusalem, especially in the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which caused the injury of a number of Palestinians.
Israel shut down the holy site and installed checkpoints and metal detectors at its entrances after three Muslim Palestinians with Israeli citizenship gunned down two Israeli policemen on Friday. The attackers were then killed by Israeli police inside the holy compound.
The site, holy to both Muslims and Jews, includes the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque.
In protest against the new Israeli security measures, dozens of Muslim worshippers prayed outside the compound and refused to enter the site.
Meanwhile, the Secretary-General demanded an immediate halt of these practices, calling on Israel to respect the Muslims' third holiest shrine.
He also warned of the grave consequences of Israel's escalation which started on Friday with many measures that hamper the freedom of practicing Islamic religious rituals at the holy compound.
The Secretary-General reiterated that these measures are an obvious violation of international human rights law, which considers the freedom to worship as an authentic human right.
Aboul-Ghiet stressed that such acts will only inflame tension in the holy city and will negatively affect any peace chances between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
The recent measures added further tension to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that has been going on for decades, since the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the Western-backed creation of Israel in 1948.
Israel is blamed by the international community for the deadlock of the peace process due to its settlement expansion policy that is rejected even by its strongest ally, the United States.
The Palestinians seek to establish an independent state in light of the UN-proposed two-state solution based on the pre-1967 borders.
