Oman denounces Israeli storming of Al Aqsa Mosque
Published: 06:06 PM,Jun 06,2024 | EDITED : 10:06 PM,Jun 06,2024
MUSCAT: The Sultanate of Oman has rejected and denounced the storming of Al Aqsa Mosque by an extremist group of officials from the Israeli occupation government, settlers and members of the Knesset.
Oman also condemned a provocative march organised by the same group in the occupied city of Al Quds (Jerusalem) under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces.
In a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry on Thursday, Oman stressed that this provocative action constitutes a flagrant violation of all international laws and conventions calling for respecting the sanctity of sacred places.
This, Oman affirmed, requires the international community to shoulder its full responsibilities by holding the Israeli occupation government accountable for these acts and violations.
Meanwhile, at least 37 people were killed in an Israeli strike on Thursday on a UN-run school that the Israeli military alleged housed a 'Hamas compound'.
The raid came after US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators resumed talks aimed at securing a truce and hostage-prisoner swap in the nearly eight-month war triggered by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel.
The military said it had 'eliminated' several militants in a 'precise strike on a Hamas compound embedded inside an UNRWA school' just before 2:00 am in the Nuseirat area of central Gaza.
Israel accuses Hamas and its allies in Gaza of using schools, hospitals and other civilian infrastructure including facilities run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, as operational centres -- charges the militants deny.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, near Nuseirat, said it had received the bodies of at least '37 martyrs' from the strike.
An AFP photographer saw Palestinians removing blood-stained mattresses and examining damage to the school where displaced Gazans had been sheltering, parts of it littered with broken concrete slabs.
'POSITIVE SIGNS' ON GAZA TRUCE
Egypt has received encouraging signals from Hamas over a potential Gaza truce and hostage-prisoner swap with Israel, state-linked Al Qahera News said on Thursday, citing a high-level source.
Cairo has been engaged along with fellow mediators Doha and Washington in months of negotiations for a ceasefire aimed at ending the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
'Hamas leaders have informed us that they are studying the truce proposal seriously and positively,' Al Qahera quoted the source as saying.
The source, who was not named, said the Palestinian militant group was expected to respond to the proposal in the coming days.
Egypt, which invited Hamas leaders to negotiations in Cairo, had 'received positive signs from the Palestinian movement signalling its aspiration for a ceasefire', the source added.
The comments came a day after Hamas representatives met in Doha with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani and Egypt's intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.
Apart from a seven-day ceasefire in November, during which more than 100 hostages were released in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, mediation efforts have failed to stop the conflict.
Oman also condemned a provocative march organised by the same group in the occupied city of Al Quds (Jerusalem) under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces.
In a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry on Thursday, Oman stressed that this provocative action constitutes a flagrant violation of all international laws and conventions calling for respecting the sanctity of sacred places.
This, Oman affirmed, requires the international community to shoulder its full responsibilities by holding the Israeli occupation government accountable for these acts and violations.
Meanwhile, at least 37 people were killed in an Israeli strike on Thursday on a UN-run school that the Israeli military alleged housed a 'Hamas compound'.
The raid came after US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators resumed talks aimed at securing a truce and hostage-prisoner swap in the nearly eight-month war triggered by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel.
The military said it had 'eliminated' several militants in a 'precise strike on a Hamas compound embedded inside an UNRWA school' just before 2:00 am in the Nuseirat area of central Gaza.
Israel accuses Hamas and its allies in Gaza of using schools, hospitals and other civilian infrastructure including facilities run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, as operational centres -- charges the militants deny.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, near Nuseirat, said it had received the bodies of at least '37 martyrs' from the strike.
An AFP photographer saw Palestinians removing blood-stained mattresses and examining damage to the school where displaced Gazans had been sheltering, parts of it littered with broken concrete slabs.
'POSITIVE SIGNS' ON GAZA TRUCE
Egypt has received encouraging signals from Hamas over a potential Gaza truce and hostage-prisoner swap with Israel, state-linked Al Qahera News said on Thursday, citing a high-level source.
Cairo has been engaged along with fellow mediators Doha and Washington in months of negotiations for a ceasefire aimed at ending the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
'Hamas leaders have informed us that they are studying the truce proposal seriously and positively,' Al Qahera quoted the source as saying.
The source, who was not named, said the Palestinian militant group was expected to respond to the proposal in the coming days.
Egypt, which invited Hamas leaders to negotiations in Cairo, had 'received positive signs from the Palestinian movement signalling its aspiration for a ceasefire', the source added.
The comments came a day after Hamas representatives met in Doha with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani and Egypt's intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.
Apart from a seven-day ceasefire in November, during which more than 100 hostages were released in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, mediation efforts have failed to stop the conflict.