The leaders of Egypt and Jordan, and the Palestinian president have slammed Israel, saying it was fueling chaos and violence in east Jerusalem and the occupied West Financial institution as bloodshed surges between Israel and Palestinians
ByThe Related Press
August 14, 2023, 11:58 AM
CAIRO — The leaders of Egypt and Jordan, and the Palestinian president on Monday slammed Israel, saying it was fueling chaos and violence in east Jerusalem and the occupied West Financial institution as bloodshed surges between Israel and Palestinians.
The condemnation got here on the finish of a three-way summit within the northern Egyptian metropolis of el-Alamein that introduced collectively Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The three accused Israel of a quantity violations towards Palestinians, together with what they stated had been incursions by Israeli troopers at a contested holy web site in east Jerusalem and illegally withholding Palestinian cash.
The positioning, recognized to Jews because the Temple Mount, is the holiest web site in Judaism. At present, it’s dwelling to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest web site in Islam. The competing claims lie on the coronary heart of the Israeli-Palestinian battle.
Israel’s authorities didn’t instantly reply to the assertion from the summit.
The previous months have seen one of many deadliest durations in years within the Israeli-Palestinian battle. Greater than 160 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli hearth this yr within the West Financial institution and east Jerusalem, in line with a tally by The Related Press. Palestinians have killed 29 individuals on the Israeli facet throughout that point.
Israel’s new extremely nationalist authorities, fashioned final December, has adopted a hard-line strategy to the Palestinians. In January, it determined to withhold $39 million from the Palestinian Authority and switch the funds as a substitute to a compensation program for the households of Israeli victims of Palestinian militant assaults.
Throughout violent flare ups, Egypt, which was the primary Arab nation to determine diplomatic ties with Israel, has recurrently acted as a peace dealer between the 2 sides.
Israel captured the West Financial institution within the 1967 Mideast conflict, together with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. Palestinians search these territories for his or her hoped-for unbiased state.