US warns Israel against change in status of Al-Aqsa Mosque
The United States on Tuesday voiced concern about the visit of a far-right minister in Israel's new hardliners government to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, holy to both Muslims and Jews, and warned against any change in the status quo.
'We are deeply concerned by any unilateral actions that have the potential to exacerbate tensions precisely because we want to see the opposite happen,' US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said at a Press conference.
'We want to see tensions reduced. We want to see tensions diminish,' Ned Price said.
'The US stands firmly for preservation of the historic status quo with respect to the holy sites in Jerusalem,' Ned Price told reporters in response to a question about the visit that sparked tensions in the region.
Any 'unilateral actions' undercutting the historic status quo are 'unacceptable, he added.
The visit has the 'potential to exacerbate tensions and to provoke violence,' spokesperson Ned Price said. 'We continue to be deeply concerned by that very intensifying violence in the West Bank.'
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