By The South Asia Times

BEIJING: China on Thursday expressed deep concerns over the latest tension in Jerusalem and said Beijing opposes any unilateral action.

During his regular news briefing, the foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin while responding to a question regarding the tensions between Palestine and Israel around the al-Aqsa mosque, he said China is deeply concerned about the heightened tensions in Jerusalem. 

“We oppose any action to unilaterally alter the historical status quo of Jerusalem and call on relevant parties, notably Israel, to stay calm and exercise restraint in order to prevent the situation from getting out of control,” Wang said.

“The root cause of the recurrence of Palestine-Israel conflict lies in the long absence of the implementation of the two-state solution. The international community needs to act with a stronger sense of urgency and facilitate the early resumption of peace talks between Palestine and Israel on the basis of the two-state solution so that peace could prevail as early as possible between the two sides,” he added. 

On Monday, Türkiye also condemned  the raid by some Israeli radical groups on the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in the occupied East Jerusalem, calling on Israeli authorities to take necessary measures.

“We condemn and find it unacceptable that radical Israeli groups raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem under the protection of Israeli security forces,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“We call on the Israeli authorities to take the necessary measures immediately so that these practices that violate the sanctity and the status based on international law of the Al-Aqsa Mosque are not allowed and tensions do not escalate,” it added.

On the occasion of the Jewish New Year holiday, radical Jewish settlers raided the mosque compound and Israeli police intervened against the Palestinians protesting the raid.

*Courtesy Anadolu Agency