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Arab Foreign Ministers Announce Holding an Extraordinary Session | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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A 2016 picture shows Arab Foreign ministers and delegation members attending an annual meeting at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo. (Reuters)


The Arab League Council will hold on Thursday an extraordinary meeting for Arab foreign ministers, reported the state-owned Saudi Press Agency.

The meeting will be chaired by Algeria and will discuss the latest Israeli attacks in Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site.

Earlier this week, the Arab League said Tel Aviv “is playing with fire and risking a major crisis with the Arab and Islamic world.” A harshly-worded statement added that international community must “oblige the Israeli government to maintain the status quo” as its current policies “hurt the feelings” of the Palestinians and those of the entire Muslim world.

Anger has spilled across the West Bank since Israel shut East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque following a deadly shootout on July 14. The site is venerated by Muslims and Jews, who call it the Temple Mount.

The mosque was reopened after two days, with Israel installing metal detectors and cameras at its gates.

Three Palestinians were killed Friday in protests against the measures around the holy site, in addition to dozens of wounded.

The Arab League is a regional organization of Arab countries formed in 1945 and has 22 members. Its main goal is to “draw closer the relations between member States and co-ordinate collaboration between them, to safeguard their independence and sovereignty, and to consider in a general way the affairs and interests of the Arab countries”.