Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor has expressed its deep concern over Israel’s decision to ban Palestinian Muslim children from playing in the Aqsa Mosque’s courtyards and punish them with imprisonment describing the measure as “an unjustified interference in the administration of the Islamic holy site and a violation of the international law.”
In a press release published on its website on Monday the Geneva-based human rights group deplored the Israeli higher court of justice for issuing a verdict on October 4 prohibiting Palestinian children from playing in the courtyards of their Aqsa Mosque and threatening them with detention for several years.
It stressed that the verdict violated the international human rights law that stipulates the right of individuals to freedom of religion and belief and the need for not interfering in the administration of their holy sites or violating their sanctity.
The Euro-Med also pointed to the resolution that was issued by the UNESCO in October 2016 on Jerusalem which asserted that the Aqsa Mosque belongs solely to the Muslims and condemned Israel’s changes in and around the Old City as illegitimate.
It called on the UN Security Council to take effective steps against Israel’s attempts to impose its control over the Aqsa Mosque and force it to respect relevant resolutions that confirmed that Israel has no sovereignty over the holy site.
