Israel's impunity must end - Anifah

Asserting that the repeated provocative and blatant transgressions by Israel were totally unacceptable, Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said such actions clearly violated various international laws, international human rights law, and international humanitarian laws.

"Yet, they've continued to do so with impunity. We must not allow this to go on without the force of law on them," he said.

Anifah said this when delivering Malaysia's statement at the second meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Ministerial Contact Group on Defending the Cause of Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Sharif here on Saturday (Sunday in Malaysia).

Malaysia, he said, condemned in the strongest terms the intrusion by Israel into the mosque and the aggression against Muslim worshippers.

"It's obvious that this irresponsible act by Israel is a furtherance of their long-standing strategy to divide the Al-Aqsa Mosque according to zones and times.

"It's also an attempt to alter the Arab-Islamic character and the demographic structure of Al-Quds Al-Sharif," Anifah said.

The foreign minister said such serious provocations had the potential to ignite violence beyond Jerusalem as tensions caused by other inter-related security issues continued to escalate.

He stressed that the international community must know of the serious impact of continuous Israeli aggression and intrusion into Al-Quds Al-Sharif.

"They must realise that these actions perpetrated by the Israeli regime could fuel more violence and potentially flare up into a religious conflict.

"This will undoubtedly pose a grave threat to regional and international peace and security," Anifah said.

Chaired by Morocco, the Contact Group's members comprise Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Guinea, Malaysia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and the OIC secretary-general, with the participation of Qatar.

After the meeting that took place on the sidelines of the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly, the ministers issued a statement condemning the persistent, systematic and large-scale violations committed by Israel against Palestinian territory.

They called on the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, to assume its responsibilities to intervene and take firm action to counter Israeli violations in Al-Quds Al-Sharif.

The Contact Group also derided Tel Aviv's continued plans to prejudice sacred sites in the city of Al-Quds Al-Sharif, particularly the Al-Aqsa Mosque, with a view to dividing it temporarily and spatially.

This, they said, was in blatant violation of international legitimacy resolutions and the provisions of international law which considers Al-Quds as an integral part of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.