KUWAIT: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday voiced Kuwait’s strong condemnation and denunciation of the racist and provocative calls made by extremist settler groups affiliated with the Zionist occupation, which incite the demolition of Al-Aqsa Mosque to build the so-called temple in its place. In a statement, the ministry described such calls as a blatant violation of Islamic sanctities and a deep affront to the sentiments of Muslims around the world. It warned of the grave implications of these statements, particularly as they coincide with a surge in incursions and violations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, carried out under the protection of occupation forces.

The ministry stressed that these developments signal a dangerous and unprecedented escalation in the occupied Palestinian territories, alongside the continued aggression on the Gaza Strip. Reaffirming Kuwait’s categorical rejection of unilateral Zionist actions, the ministry underscored the need to preserve the legal and historical status of Jerusalem and its holy sites.

It called for immediate international intervention to halt these violations and to safeguard Islamic sanctities in accordance with international legitimacy and relevant UN resolutions. The statement reiterated Kuwait’s unwavering stance on the Palestinian cause and its steadfast support for the rights of the Palestinian people and their legitimate struggle to establish an independent state within the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

In another development, Gaza’s civil defense agency reported that Zionist airstrikes since dawn on Sunday have killed at least 25 people across the Gaza Strip, including women and children. Zionist entity resumed its aerial and ground assault on Gaza on March 18, reigniting fighting after a two-month ceasefire that had paused more than 15 months of war in the coastal territory. “Since dawn today, the occupation’s air strikes have killed 20 people and injured dozens more, including children and women across the Gaza Strip,” Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defense agency told AFP.

In a separate statement later, the agency reported that five people were killed in a Zionist drone strike on a group of civilians in eastern Rafah. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday vowed to continue the war and bring home the remaining hostages held in Gaza without yielding to Hamas’s demands. — Agencies

“We are at a critical stage of the campaign, and at this point, we need patience and determination to win,” Netanyahu said in a statement, rejecting calls from the militants to end the war and withdraw troops from Gaza. - Agencies