World condemns Israeli attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque
The Israeli attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque and Gaza have triggered various international and regional criticism and calls for calm.
US and UK
The international community, including leaders in the US and UK, have been largely silent over Israel's air strikes on the Gaza Strip and the storming of Al-Aqsa, instead focusing condemnation against Hamas' rockets and calling for calm "on both sides".
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said the rocket attacks from Gaza against Israel should stop "immediately," and he urged all sides to take steps to reduce tensions.
"We're very focused on the situation in Israel, West Bank, Gaza, very deeply concerned about the rocket attacks that we're seeing now, that they need to stop, they need to stop immediately," Blinken said ahead of a meeting with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.
US Department of State spokesperson Ned Price said the Biden Administration is 'concerned' about the escalating violence at Al-Aqsa Mosque and in Gaza and urges 'calm' from both sides.
US House Representative Ilhan Omar, however, quickly labelled Israel's strikes "an act of terrorism", saying it would be "unconscionable to not condemn" them.
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Monday that the United Kingdom condemned the firing of rockets at Jerusalem and locations within Israel.
"The ongoing violence in Jerusalem and Gaza must stop. We need an immediate de-escalation on all sides, and an end to targeting of civilian populations", Raab said on Twitter.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa mosque in a Twitter statement.
“We express our condemnation in the strongest terms for the blatant attacks carried out by the Israeli occupation forces, against the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the safety and security of worshipers,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
It urged the international community to hold Israel accountable for its violations of Palestinian rights, and expressed solidarity with Palestinians.
Egypt
Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement expressing its condemnation, "in the strongest terms", of the Israeli forces' repeated storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and the assault on Palestinian worshipers.
The statement urged Israel to "assume its responsibility regarding these rapid and dangerous developments," which could lead to further tension and escalation.
Meanwhile, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb condemned the world’s “shameful silence towards the brutal Zionist terrorism and its shameful violations of the right of Al-Aqsa Mosque, our brothers and our sanctities in Arab Palestine.”
Turkey
In Turkey, thousands took part in demonstrations in Istanbul and Ankara in defiance of a Covid curfew to protest against Israel's raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque and deadly airstrikes in Gaza.
President Recep Tayyib Erdogan, according to a statement from his office, told King Abdullah of Jordan that the "inhumane" attacks against Palestinians were aimed at all Muslims, adding that Turkey and Jordan needed to work together to stop them.
Jordan
Thousands of Jordanians protested near Israel's embassy in Amman on Monday, calling on their government to cancel its peace treaty with Israel in the face of attacks on Jerusalem's al Aqsa mosque and Gaza.
Riot police blocked roads leading to the fortified embassy complex to keep back demonstrators who gathered around the Kaloti mosque in the capital near the Israeli mission.
Jordan, which established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1994, summoned the Israeli charge d'affaires in Amman on Sunday to voice the kingdom's condemnation over Israeli "attacks on worshippers" around the al-Aqsa compound.
Iran
Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque in a statement on Twitter.
“It wasn't enough for the Israeli regime to steal people’s land & homes; Create an Apartheid regime; refuse to vaccinate civilians under illegal occupation,” he said.
“It had to shoot innocent worshippers inside Islam's 3rd Holiest Mosque upon Islam's Holiest Eid,” he added.