Ankara [Turkey]: The Turkish and Egyptian foreign ministers spoke on the phone on Sunday to solve a crisis in Jerusalem over new security measures put in place at one of its most important holy sites Al-Aqsa Mosque by the Israel Government after a bloody weekend.
Mevlut Cavusoglu and Sameh Shoukry discussed the latest developments at the Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
Cavusoglu on Saturday had also discussed Al-Aqsa on the phone with his Pakistani, Uzbek, and Jordanian counterparts.
The city of Jerusalem is sacred to members of all there Abrahamic faiths — Muslims, Jews, and Christians — and the Al-Aqsa Mosque represents the Islamic world’s third-holiest site.
Despite hopes, new metal detectors Israel installed at Al-Aqsa Mosque – following a deadly shootout – would be removed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed little after his weekly cabinet meeting.
“We are receiving from them an upto-date picture of the situation, as well as recommendations for action, and we will decide accordingly. We are conducting this calmly, and responsibly and thus, we will continue to act in order to maintain security,” the Anadolu News Agency quoted Netanyahu, as saying.
Netanyahu even met his security cabinet later Sunday.
At least four Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces since then, while three Israelis were also killed in an alleged stabbing attack inside their home in a settlement in the occupied West Bank.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday warned of intervention by the Muslim international community over the metal detectors and ensuing clashes between Palestinian protestors and the Israeli troops.
Erdogan urged Israel to act in accordance with international law and “human values” while avoiding use of violence and said the Muslim world will not remain silent over what he called “violations” at the temple compound.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday that he would be cutting all contacts with Israelis until calm was restored
The Islamic Waqf, which runs the holy site and has called for Muslims to pray outside Al-Aqsa until the metal detectors are removed, has said it would only accept a return to the previous arrangements. (ANI)