The Arab League will hold an emergency meeting this afternoon, following the Israeli police raid on the al-Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem.

Jordan had requested an emergency meeting in coordination with Egypt and Palestinian officials.

Earlier the Arab League had condemned the raid on al-Aqsa mosque.

“The extreme approach that governs the policy of the Israeli government will lead to widespread conflicts with the Palestinians, if not reversed,” said the secretary general of the Arab League, Ahmed Abu Hait.

Violent clashes broke out overnight between Israeli police and worshipers inside the al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam’s third-holiest site of worship, raising fears of further escalation of tensions as Ramadan, the Jewish and Christian Easters, coincide this year. .

Denouncing this “unprecedented crime”, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, called on West Bank Palestinians to “go en masse to the Al-Aqsa Islamic mosque to defend it”.

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Jordan, the custodian of the holy places in Jerusalem, demanded that Israeli forces immediately withdraw from the mosque, while Saudi Arabia pointed out that it “categorically rejects” any action that violates “international principles and rules governing respect for religion.”

Egypt, a traditional mediator between Israel and the Palestinians, announced that it considers “Israel, an occupying power, responsible for this dangerous escalation that may undermine the truce efforts.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry denounced “the violent attack of the Zionist regime (…) which demonstrates to the whole world once again the criminal nature of this regime in terms of human rights”.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is experiencing a new escalation after the inauguration, at the end of December, of one of the most right-wing governments in Israel’s history.

At least 91 Palestinians, 15 Israelis and one Ukrainian woman have been killed since the start of the year, according to an AFP tally based on official statements from Palestinian and Israeli authorities.

These numbers include, on the Palestinian side, fighters and civilians, including minors, while on the Israeli side mainly civilians, including minors, as well as two members of the Arab minority.