ABU DHABI, The United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) summoned Israel’s ambassador on Wednesday to “protest” violations against Palestinians in the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem.

In a statement carried by the state news agency WAM, the Emirati Foreign Ministry said it had summoned Israeli Ambassador Amir Hayek and informed him of “the country's strong protest and denunciation of the events taking place in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, including attacks on civilians and incursions into holy places that resulted in the injury of a number of civilians.”

“These provocative, arbitrary practices represent dangerous incitement against Muslims and are a flagrant violation of the sanctity of the holy city,” it added.

The ministry condemned the repeated assaults by Israeli extremists, which “constitute a systematic extremist campaign that not only targets the Palestinian people but the entire international community, further escalating tensions at a time when efforts should be focused on ending the ongoing tragedy in the Gaza Strip.”

The ministry called on the Israeli government “to assume full responsibility, condemn these hostile acts, hold perpetrators accountable without exception to ministers and officials, and take urgent steps to prevent the exploitation of Jerusalem for agendas of violence, extremism, and incitement.”

It warned that any failure to act would be seen as implicit approval, further deepening “hatred, racism, and instability.”

On Monday, far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and more than 2,700 illegal settlers stormed the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex to mark the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, triggering a wave of condemnations.

The extremist minister was joined in his tour by several Israeli ministers, including Minister of the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Yitzhak Wasserlauf, and Knesset member Yitzhak Kroizer.

The intrusion was the seventh by the far-right minister into the Al-Aqsa complex since Ben-Gvir joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in 2022.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.